Poll of the Day > Can someone explain why you need the COVID-19 vaccine if you have already had it

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So if youve already been infected with the COVID-19 virus and survived, shouldnt you already have antibodies for it and dont necessarily need the vaccine? Im a little confused on why people who have already been infected need to get vaccinated because that seems like overkill. Hopefully some of our resident coronavirus experts can explain this to me.

Natural immunity seems to only be lasting for about 3 months in most people. It wouldn't surprise me at all if there are plans to give recently-recovered people a booster shot of some sort of extend that further, but for now, you are correct that there's little point in vaccinating somebody that has recently had it, and I expect such people will be among the lowest priority recipients for the vaccines that are rolling out now.

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You might, you might not. Everyones immune system works differently. Given that getting the vaccination shouldnt cause any harm to someone that has antibodies though, the best course of action is to have as many people get vaccinated as possible.

Otherwise we just have a situation like with masks and social distancing where 90% of people are using common sense and doing simple things like wearing a mask, and the other 10% are fucking it all up and helping the virus spread.

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adjl posted...

Natural immunity seems to only be lasting for about 3 months in most people. It wouldn't surprise me at all if there are plans to give recently-recovered people a booster shot of some sort of extend that further, but for now, you are correct that there's little point in vaccinating somebody that has recently had it, and I expect such people will be among the lowest priority recipients for the vaccines that are rolling out now.

Now that really leads to the next question. If we are only getting 3 months of natural immunity, how is a vaccine going to be any better? Vaccines for this are basically a weaken and controlled form of the virus so our immune system properly responds to an infection. Is everyone going to have to be getting vaccines every three months for the rest of our lives to effectively control this thing?

I guess no one has an answer. Or perhaps they do know the answer, but it is a rather uncomfortable truth that they are not willing to admit. Hopefully these questions are something they meditate on when they sit back and reflect on what has happened over this past year and realize what is going to be happening in the future. Just remember that a majority of you willfully wanted what is in store.

Also I want to add that I believe the vaccine is going to be safe and mostly effective for a large majority of people (for at least a period of time). Its just everything else that is involved with it is what I would be worried about.

MartianManchild posted...

Now that really leads to the next question. If we are only getting 3 months of natural immunity, how is a vaccine going to be any better?

Vaccines have a number of ways to effect longer-lasting immunity than a natural infection. You may have seen the term "adjuvant" thrown around in other discussions of vaccines. That refers broadly to chemicals that are added to the mixture to promote a longer-lasting immune response (the details of which, I don't have). The body's also generally in a better position to develop immunity when it isn't actively fighting an infection (since that diverts a lot of resources). One of the most common ways to make immunity last a long time, though, is to give multiple doses. You got several copies of most of your infant/toddler vaccines, Hep B is delivered in 3 shots, HPV is 2, you get a tetanus booster every 10 years... There's ample precedent for using multiple doses and booster shots to maintain immunity, and the current Covid vaccine is no exception (you get two shots, 4 weeks apart).

MartianManchild posted...

Is everyone going to have to be getting vaccines every three months for the rest of our lives to effectively control this thing?

That remains to be seen. My understanding is that the current vaccine is lasting longer than 3 months, but there's no way to know just how long it will last without actually waiting it out (aside from extrapolating antibody counts once they start to decline, but that can still take a while). There's a good chance that we'll need regular booster shots to maintain long-term immunity, but that may not be the case and/or another vaccine candidate will end up lasting longer and taking over from this first one (vaccinating everyone in the world multiple times a year simply isn't a practical long-term solution and there will therefore be plenty of demand driving the development of something better).

Of course, there's also the fact that vaccines won't be necessary if the virus is eradicated. Even if we need doses every 3 months to maintain immunity, we really only have to sustain that long enough for the world to hit 0 cases. If we start seeing mutations that bypass that immunity (as with influenza), that may stop being a viable goal, but most of the vaccine candidates are being designed so they can be repurposed for different coronaviruses if a different one springs up. Really, we'll just have to wait and see.

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MartianManchild posted...

Is everyone going to have to be getting vaccines every three months for the rest of our lives to effectively control this thing?

Does everyone have to get a vaccine every few months for polio or smallpox?

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adjl posted...

Natural immunity seems to only be lasting for about 3 months in most people. It wouldn't surprise me at all if there are plans to give recently-recovered people a booster shot of some sort of extend that further, but for now, you are correct that there's little point in vaccinating somebody that has recently had it, and I expect such people will be among the lowest priority recipients for the vaccines that are rolling out now.

Except you are ever so slightly wrong. My county health department told me that, yes the antibodies last only a few months, but the B-Cells that are also created are what do the most work and they last quite a bit longer if not forever. The B-Cells create new antibodies when the disease rears it's ugly head again.

Mead posted...

Does everyone have to get a vaccine every few months for polio or smallpox?

I mean, I probably should get a measles booster shot, since those only last 10 years.

Arcturusisnow posted...

Except you are ever so slightly wrong. My county health department told me that, yes the antibodies last only a few months, but the B-Cells that are also created are what do the most work and they last quite a bit longer if not forever. The B-Cells create new antibodies when the disease rears it's ugly head again.

That is the hope. The B-cells are lasting substantially longer than the antibodies, so people are hoping that will lead to longer-term immunity, though we have already seen recovered patients being infected a second time. Part of the longitudinal follow-up for vaccine trial participants will include administering a sample of viral proteins to see if they can mount an antibody response to it even after their serum antibodies have faded.

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