Since the SARS outbreak in 2003, we’ve averaged one new coronavirus outbreak every decade or so: MERS in 2012 and now COVID-19. It’s likely that the current outbreak is not the last coronavirus we’ll have to deal with — which is why the development of a vaccine is so important, not just for COVID-19, but for future outbreaks of different coronaviruses, too.

Obviously a COVID-19 vaccine will affect how our immune systems respond to the SARS-CoV-2 virus — that’s the whole point. But it may also affect how we respond to infection with future coronaviruses. It won’t make us immune to all coronaviruses, but it could “train” our immune systems to launch a specific type of attack against any such virus in future.

It’s called trained immunity: our first exposure to a pathogen, either naturally or via vaccination, influences future responses to similar pathogens.

Today in The Conversation Canada, University of Guelph immunologists Byram W. Bridle and Shayan Sharif and University of Toronto clinician-scientist Samira Mubareka explain the concept of trained immunity, and its importance in the context of COVID-19 vaccines. A properly developed COVID-19 vaccine provides an opportunity to train our immune systems to mount optimal protective responses to other coronavirus infections and vaccines in the future.

Also today:

• How an Alberta researcher’s discovery of hepatitis C led to the Nobel Prize and saved lives
• Syrian refugees in Lebanon are misled on their chances of coming to Canada
• Lack of ID can endanger already vulnerable people during COVID-19 pandemic
• Nuit Blanche Toronto goes virtual to change how people see art and public space

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