Results of the study
Based on the history of coronavirus vaccine development, COVID-19
vaccines designed to elicit neutralizing antibodies may sensitize
vaccine recipients to more severe disease than if they were not
vaccinated. Vaccines for SARS, MERS and RSV have never been approved,
and the data generated in the development and testing of these vaccines
suggest a serious mechanistic concern: that vaccines designed
empirically using the traditional approach (consisting of the unmodified
or minimally modified coronavirus viral spike to elicit neutralizing
antibodies), be they composed of protein, viral vector, DNA or RNA and
irrespective of delivery method, may worsen COVID-19 disease via
antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE) of either infection or disease.