Awaiting news of last month’s spectacular results from Pfizer and Modern’s experimental Covid-19 vaccine, Senator Rand Paul Tweeted An exciting comparison.
Mr. Paul Lay, a Republican from Kentucky, said the new vaccine was 90 percent and 94.5 percent effective. But the “naturally acquired” Covid-19 was even better, it was 99.9982 percent effective, he claimed.
Mr. Paul is one of many people who, fed up with lockdowns and economic losses, have considered the benefits of contracting coronavirus. The senator was diagnosed with the disease earlier this year and argued that avoiding the Covid-1 movement provides greater protection, and Poses fewer risks, Than getting vaccinated.
The difficulty with that logic is that this warning is difficult to predict who would easily survive, said Jennifer Gomerman, an immunologist at the University of Toronto. She said it was “a very bad decision” for all strangers – such as the region’s hospital capacity, or a person’s immune system – to choose a disease over a vaccine.
He said the main advantage of the vaccine is that it is predictable and safe. “It is best designed to produce an effective immune response.”
But what do we know about how the immunity from previous infections compares to the protection provided by the new vaccines? And if you already have covid – is it safe to vaccinate? We asked the experts to pay attention to the latest evidence.
Which produces a greater response to the immune system: a natural infection or a vaccine?
Short answer: we don’t know. But the Covid-19 vaccine has potentially prevented the disease, and it’s a safer bet, experts said.
Vaccines for some germs, like pneumococcal bacteria, induce better immunity than natural infections. Preliminary evidence suggests that the Covid-19 vaccine may fall into this category. Volunteers who received Moder’s shots had more antibodies – a marker of an immune response – in their blood than those who were sick with Covid-19.
In other cases, however, natural infections are more powerful than vaccines. For example, having mumps – which can cause infertility in men – produces lifelong immunity, but some people who have received one or two doses of the vaccine still have the disease.
According to Mr. Paul: Natural immunity to coronavirus is fortunately quite strong. Most people with infections produce at least some antibodies and immune cells that can fight the infection. And the evidence so far suggests that this protection will last for years, if not prevent disease, if not rehabilitation.
But with a 200-fold difference in antibody levels, there is a “wide dynamic range” in the immune response.
For people who are only mildly ill, the immune defenses that can prevent another infection can wane in just a few months. Harvard T.H. “These people are more likely to benefit from the vaccine,” said Bill Henaj, a pathologist at Chan School Public Health.
The variation in the immune response to a natural infection may be due to differences in the amount of virus in which the person was exposed.
With one vaccine, everyone gets the same dose. “We know that doses are given and we know that doses are effective for getting an immune response,” said Dr. Gomerman. “So when you get the vaccine it becomes a variable that is cut off from the table.”
I am younger, healthier and have a lower risk of covid. Why not take my chances instead of getting vaccinated urgently?
Experts were unanimous in their answer: Covid-19 is an even more dangerous option.
“It’s clear that the health of others is less of a problem than that of the body – the risk of natural infections is higher,” said Marion Marion, an immunologist at the University of Washington in Seattle.
People who are obese, or who have diseases such as diabetes, are especially susceptible to severe cases of Covid-19. On average, the virus seems to be less dangerous for younger people, and women tend to rent better than men. But in addition to those widespread generalizations, doctors do not know why some people get very sick and die while others have no symptoms.
For example, people who undergo some mutations in immune genes are more susceptible to the disease, some studies have shown. “So there’s a risk factor that has nothing to do with age,” Dr. Gomerman said.
In a study of more than 3,000 people aged 18 to 34 admitted to hospital for covid, 20 percent required intensive care and 3 percent died.
“It’s true that most people don’t get hospitalized, most people don’t go to the intensive care unit or die,” said Dr. Yvonne Maldonado, who represents the American Academy of Pediatrics at federal meetings. Advisory Committee on Vaccination System.
But, “no one is immune to a serious disease.” And even if people themselves are not at greater risk of covid, they may have friends or family.
One in three people recovering from covid have chronic complaints, including fatigue and a racing heart, months later. This includes people under the age of 35 who have no previous health condition. Along with some of Kovid’s surviving symptoms, such as lupus and arthritis, his body also shows signs of self-inflicted troubles.
Covid vaccines, by contrast, carry lesser known risks. At least so far – they have been tested in thousands of people without serious side effects. “Once you start vaccinating millions, you can get very rare cases,” said Dr. Henag said. “But we should know that it is very, very rare and more rare than the adverse events associated with a natural infection.”
I had covid. Is it safe for me to get vaccinated? If so, when can I get it?
It’s safe, and probably not. It is also beneficial to vaccinate someone who has had covid at some point, experts said.
Dr. “There’s nothing wrong with you boosting the immune response,” Pepper said. “You can actually get better immunity by boosting any immunity you got from the first infection by the vaccine.”
In fact, in a meeting on Wednesday, the chief adviser of War Operations Speed, Dr. Monsef Sloy said 10 percent of those who participated in clinical trials for the vaccine became infected with the virus without knowing it. Their immune responses to the vaccine The analysis is done, he said.
If you already have Covid-19, you can wait a while for the vaccine.
Dr. Pepper’s team and other studies have shown that the immune response develops in the first few months after infection, but everyone with covid has some protection during that time.
“We haven’t seen anyone who hasn’t developed any kind of immune response,” he said. “I don’t think people need to run and get vaccinated in the same way that people who are very sensitive really do.”
“Those who have not been infected should be given priority over those who have been infected with the virus in the last 90 days,” the ACIPA said in a meeting on Wednesday.
ड some. “At some point we have to figure out if 90 days is the right number,” Maldonado said. But for now, “people who have evidence of a recent infection should not be vaccinated in the first line because there are so few vaccines available.”
