Side Does Matter: Unlocking the Secret Power of Vaccine Placement

Research conducted during Germany’s COVID-19 vaccination effort shows that getting both vaccine doses in the same arm could enhance the immune response, offering insights into optimizing vaccination strategies.

The question seems so banal, so trivial that nobody before has thought to ask it, says Professor Martina Sester at the start of our conversation about the work of her doctoral student Laura Ziegler. What might at first sound like a bit of a put-down is anything but – and it soon becomes clear that Sester values the fact that her doctoral student took the time to address this easily overlooked question.

Scientists like Martina Sester, Professor of Transplant and Infection Immunology at Saarland University, and Laura Ziegler, who are interested in examining the effectiveness of vaccinations and vaccines, are far more likely to ask questions like:

How does the vaccine move through the body?
Does it travel directly or indirectly to the target site, and does it do any damage to normal body cells on the way?
Is this vaccine more effective than that one, and which has the longer immune response?