ACCORDING TO IRISH website The Liberal, a recent study from a UK university “seems to imply that anyone who’s ever had a cold is sufficiently protected against coronavirus.”
The article’s headline reads “Covid-19: New study confirms that T cells from the common cold are effective against coronavirus – vaccines were never required to begin with for most people.”
The piece says the study was “published by Imperial College London researchers” and that it was “unclear if this will finally wake people up” in relation to its alleged findings on vaccines and common colds.
So is The Liberal correct? Does a study published by Imperial College London imply that anyone who has ever had a cold is “sufficiently protected against coronavirus?” Does the study’s findings prove that “vaccines were never required to begin with?”
These are big claims to make so The Journal’s Fact Check unit set to work to see if they stack up.
A study, published by Imperial College London researchers, “seems to imply that anyone who’s ever had a cold is sufficiently protected against coronavirus” and that it “further implies that vaccines were never required to begin with for most people.”
This claim was made by The Liberal in an article published on 1o January 2022.
The Liberal’s article says it was reporting the results of a study led by researchers from Imperial College London on T cells from the common cold and Covid-19.
A study matching that description was published in the journal Nature Communications on the same date as The Liberal’s article – 10 January 2022. The study is titled “Cross-reactive memory T cells associate with protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection in COVID-19 contacts.” It looked at how the presence of T cells from other coronaviruses (like the common cold) in the body at the same time of exposure to SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) play a part in determining an infection.
T cells are a type of white blood cell that play a vital role in the immune system by attacking virus cells. T cells can be generated by vaccinations or previous infections. In simple terms, this study wanted to know if T cells from other types of human coronaviruses like the common cold could prevent people from getting SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19).
Dr Rhia Kundu, the first author of the study explained in Imperial College London’s press release that “being exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus doesn’t always result in infection, and we’ve been keen to understand why.”
Dr Kundu and the other researchers found “high levels of pre-existing T cells, created by the body when infected with other human coronaviruses like the common cold, can protect against Covid-19 infection.”
The study analysed the blood of 52 participants taken within 1-6 days of exposure to the virus to analyse the “pre-existing T cells induced by previous common cold coronavirus infections that also cross-recognise proteins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.”
All 52 participants were living with someone who had tested positive for Covid-19 via a PCR test so all had been exposed. They were PCR tested three times in the study to determine whether they had been infected.
Exactly half the participants (26) became infected with SARS-CoV-2 and the other half did not. Imperial College London said there “were significantly higher levels of these cross-reactive T cells in the 26 people who did not become infected.” These cells were different to those produced by the vaccine because they “targeted internal proteins within the SARS-CoV-2 virus, rather than the spike protein on the surface of the virus.”
So the study shows that there is some evidence of ‘cross-protection’ for people with pre-existing T cells from coronaviruses like the common cold. However, it doesn’t imply that anyone who’s had a cold is protected against coronavirus, and it doesn’t say ‘vaccines were never required to begin with’ as The Liberal suggests.
Instead, the opposite is true: the researchers say their findings “provide a blueprint for a second-generation, universal vaccine” for Covid-19. That means more vaccines, not fewer.
Dr Kundu pointed out in the press release on the discovery that while common cold T cells can prevent infection, it “is only one form of protection, and I would stress that no one should rely on this alone.”
“Instead, the best way to protect yourself against Covid-19 is to be fully vaccinated, including getting your booster dose,” she said.
We put the claims made by The Liberal to another author of the study, Professor Ajit Lalvani who shut them down.
“Our study does not imply that anyone who has ever had a cold is sufficiently protected against infection with SARS-CoV-2,” he said.
The Chair of Infectious Diseases at the Imperial College London explained why the immune protection provided by past infection with other coronaviruses should not be relied upon.
“This is because it can’t be guaranteed you have these T cells, as only 10-15% of colds are caused by coronaviruses. Vaccines are the best, most reliable form of protection against infection, disease and death from Covid-19,” he said.
That makes two authors of the study who have stressed the importance of vaccines. While the study shows pre-existing T cells could offer some protection against infection from Covid-19, it does not support The Liberal’s claim that “anyone who’s ever had a cold is sufficiently protected against coronavirus.”
It certainly does not suggest “vaccines were never required to begin with for most people.”
The Journal contacted The Liberal for a response.
The website did not name the study in their article – only that it was led by researchers from Imperial College London.
According to The Journal’s research, only one paper, the paper referenced here, matched the description of the findings, matched the date published and was led by researchers from the Imperial College London. An earlier paper by Imperial College London looking into T cells and Covid-19 immunity was published in August 2020 but did not have the findings of the one examined above and instead called for further research.
Two of the study’s authors have contradicted the claims made by The Liberal. While The Liberal did not specify the name of the study, given the timing, content and origin of this study, it is likely this is the same study as the one referenced by the website.
The Liberal’s article was partly correct to say a “new study confirms that T cells from the common cold are effective against coronavirus.”
However, the claims that “anyone who’s ever had a cold is sufficiently protected against coronavirus” and “that vaccines were never required to begin with for most people” are FALSE.
TheJournal’s FactCheck is a signatory to the International Fact-Checking Network’s Code of Principles. You can read it here. For information on how FactCheck works, what the verdicts mean, and how you can take part, check out our Reader’s Guide here. You can read about the team of editors and reporters who work on the factchecks here.
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