Cross-reactive immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 have been observed in pre-pandemic cohorts and proposed to contribute to host protection. Here we assess 52 COVID-19 household contacts to capture immune responses at the earliest timepoints after SARS-CoV-2 exposure. Using a dual cytokine FLISpot assay on peripheral blood mononuclear cells, we enumerate the frequency of T cells specific for spike, nucleocapsid, membrane, envelope and ORF1 SARS-CoV-2 epitopes that cross-react with human endemic coronaviruses. We observe higher frequencies of cross-reactive (p = 0.0139), and nucleocapsid-specific (p = 0.0355) IL-2-secreting memory T cells in contacts who remained PCR-negative despite exposure (n = 26), when compared with those who convert to PCR-positive (n = 26); no significant difference in the frequency of responses to spike is observed, hinting at a limited protective function of spike-cross-reactive T cells. Our results are thus consistent with pre-existing non-spike cross-reactive memory T cells protecting SARS-CoV-2-naïve contacts from infection, thereby supporting the inclusion of non-spike antigens in second-generation vaccines.
This chapter covers one particular aspect of the foreign relations of non-sovereign island jurisdictions (SNIJs), namely relations arising from disaster-related activities. Islands are among the territories most seriously affected by calamities, including the spectre of rising seas that may come with climate change. Yet non-sovereign islands are not so well equipped to speak and act effectively for themselves in the face of such threats. This may be true even within the governing structures in which these islands find themselves, but it is even more serious given the weaknesses that may exist in their capacity to speak to and act in the international community on disaster-related activities. This chapter explores this issue of 'disaster para-diplomacy' for nonsovereign island jurisdictions, drawing on the para-diplomacy work of Duchacek et at. (1988), Michelmann and Soldatos (1990), Soldatos (1993) and Lecours (2002), and adapting it to address the special circumstances of island disaster para-diplomacy where a SNIJ could interact with foreign governments and with international agencies.For SNlJs, determining responsibility for pre-disaster actions, such as planning and mitigation, and post-disaster actions, such as response and recovery, is not always straightforward, even if legal responsibilities are clearly delineated. Where a SNIJ and its governing state's capital are far apart -geographically as well as in terms of communication, culture and/or cooperation -an event could affect the SNIJ without the national authorities realizing, or being willing to accept, the extent of the impact. Similarly, internationally or nationally mandated programmes related to disaster risk reduction (e.g. UNISDR, 2005, including national platforms for disaster-risk reduction) might be implemented inappropriately from the SNlJs' perspective because less attention is given to the SNlJs' needs compared with (typically much larger) national needs, as determined by and from the capital. Where perceived or real inadequacies arise in a state's disaster-related activities, a SNIJ has five principal options, some of them interconnected:• Do nothing.• Pursue full sovereignty or more autonomy from the state.• Focus on improving the state's actions.• Focus on improving the SNIJ's capabilities.• Focus on dealing directly with international organizations and other governments.
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