At the heart of these efforts are some critical questions: Can children transmit the virus? If you get the virus, how long is it contagious? Then are you immune or can you re-infect yourself?
The answers to these questions will influence not only how countries will reopen schools and offices, but will also have implications for the usefulness of any eventual vaccine.
While discussing who would likely receive a vaccine when one is available, Paul said, “There are millions of us like me who are immune, are you going to hold me and stick a needle in my arm?”
Paul also previously stated that “since we don’t have a vaccine, the only way to get immunity is to get more people to get it, and I don’t think you can say enough about having millions of people who now have immunity because essentially they are blocking the spread of the virus. “
Facts First: It is not clear whether those who are already infected with the virus are immune to any reinfection. Also, it is unknown how long any type of immunity would last.
It is currently impossible to tell from an antibody test whether someone is immune to the coronavirus, according to Dr. Celine Gounder, an epidemiologist and clinical assistant professor at New York University.
“All you can say about an antibody test is that someone has been exposed,” Gounder told CNN. “You really can’t say anything about immunity.”
Aubree Gordon, an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Michigan, told CNN that the problem with Paul’s claim is that “we really don’t know.”
“Yes, the vast majority of people who have had Covid-19 develop an antibody response,” said Gordon. “However, although the scientific community is generally optimistic, we do not know whether people who have been infected and recovered are generally ‘immune’ to the infection or whether they can be reinfected.”
“We don’t know if patients who have these antibodies are still at risk for reinfection with Covid-19,” said Dr. Mary Hayden, an IDSA spokeswoman and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Rush University Medical Center. “At this point, I think we should assume that they may be at risk for reinfection.”
“We don’t know if the antibodies are protective, what degree of protection they provide, so it could be complete, it could be partial, or how long the antibodies last,” Hayden added.
Antibody Timeline
As Hayden pointed out, it is unclear how long the antibodies that could be effective against the virus remain.
Gounder also told CNN that medical experts are not sure how long neutralizing antibodies generated by the immune system in response to the coronavirus last.
Blocking the spread
Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University, rejected Senator Paul’s claim that the millions of people who have been infected with the virus are now essentially blocking its spread.
“Since we don’t know how long natural protection will last, it may be the case that even infected people may need the vaccine at some point,” Schaffner told CNN. “That remains to be determined.”
He added: “Waiting for the virus to ‘immunize’ the population is a very Darwinian concept, the survival of the fittest. We generally try to avoid that in public health.”
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