Emerging science appears to be that natural immunity is a lot more effective (in particular, longer lasting) than vaccines. ISTM that public health people are reluctant to publicize this fact, since there are benefits of being vaccinated even for people who have natural immunity, and - perhaps even moreso - because on a large scale public health level, it’s important to encourage vaccinations.
One theory as to why Israel was so hard hit by a second wave of infections despite being one of the most highly vaccinated countries in the world is that they were too far ahead of the curve. They got vaccinated very early on, so by the time the highly infectious Delta variant came around, much of the vaccine-acquired immunity had worn off, and they were ripe for another round. By contrast, countries which were slower off the mark vaccine-wise had more recently-vaccinated populations when the Delta variant hit, and were thus more resistent.
You know what’s even better than natural immunity? Natural immunity plus a vaccine.
I really and truly don’t understand why people are reluctant to get a free, safe, effective vaccine, that can safe your life and the lives of your loved ones.
In any case, I’d better bow out of this thread, because no good can come of my continued interaction with anti-vaxxers.
While you’re probably well aware, in case you forgot, this is the person who was mad at the mandates chasing out some nurse, not at the nurse for refusing to be vaccinated.
"…There are several potential reasons that memory B cells produced by natural infection might be expected to outperform those produced by mRNA vaccines, the researchers say.
…It is possible that the body responds differently to viruses that enter through the respiratory tract than those that are injected into our upper arms. Or perhaps an intact virus goads the immune system in a way that the lone spike protein represented by the vaccines simply cannot. Then again, maybe it’s that the virus persists in the naturally infected for weeks, giving the body more time to mount a robust response. The vaccine, on the other hand, is flushed out of the body mere days after triggering the desired immune response."
…Vaccination produces greater amounts of circulating antibodies than natural infection. But a new study suggests that not all memory B cells are created equal. While vaccination gives rise to memory B cells that evolve over a few weeks, natural infection births memory B cells that continue to evolve over several months, producing highly potent antibodies adept at eliminating even viral variants."
If that’s the case, then it’s absolute proof that “natural immunity” is completely worthless. If millions got it that early, then by the time countermeasures were put in place, everyone would have had it. And yet, it’s still with us and spreading, despite everyone supposedly having “natural immunity”.
Back in spring of 2020, a friend of mine came down with some sort of respiratory infection. His doctor thought that it was most likely covid, but didn’t think there was much point in ordering a test, because the tests available at the time weren’t all that reliable, and it wouldn’t have made any difference in treatment anyway: Whether it was covid or not, the proper treatment was quarantine, rest, proper fluids and nutrition, and monitoring.
That friend still thinks it was probably covid. And as soon as he was eligible for the vaccine, he immediately got it. Because he’s no idiot.
We were in Detroit mid-Feb 2020. A few days after returning, my older daughter was quite sick, my wife and younger daughter less so, and I felt lousy for a day.
In retrospect, we thought it might have been Covid but given co-morbidities I would expect to have been suffered the worst, contrary to what happened. Antibody test were not widely available here until last fall when they likely wouldn’t have shown anything anyone. When the vaccines became available, I got mine on the second day my age group was eligible since it was the earliest appointment.
What I don’t understand is that even if you DO have natural immunity, how would the vaccine make your immunity worse?
There are about 330 million people in the US, 200 million of whom have been vaccinated. If there are also 100 million who have been infected, either the vaccine and/or natural immunity are worthless or this is much more contagious than scientists claim because with 2000 deaths a day we still clearly haven’t reached herd immunity despite over 90% of Americans allegedly having either natural or vaccinated immunity.
Or, you know, 100 million haven’t actually been infected.
I thought it was unlikely that a person would still have antibodies present this long afterward. Likely you had an (or another) infection much more recently, probably asymptomatically. And as far as your mother losing her sense of taste, that also happens with plenty of other respiratory infections, such as a common cold. You just can’t be certain of being infected back then. But congrats on not being vaccinated and spreading germs while infectious nonetheless.
Are there other ones where that’s the only symptom, though? I’m fully vaccinated but mostly lost my sense of taste in January 2020 for about a month. I was not otherwise sick so I just wrote off food seeming tasteless/blah as another sign of being depressed over losing my dad and favorite cat in quick succession…
In many countries, having recovered from covid with the past n months counts like vaccination. Why not in the US?
other countries may have a national health systems and some uniform way to indicate a medically confirmed case of covid. We don’t.
the FDA is conservative as fuck, and there aren’t as many studies of immunity from infection as there are of immunity from vaccination.
The emerging data suggests that infection is probably better than a single dose of mRNA vaccine. And that immunity from infection might linger longer. But I’ve also seen studies that suggest that mild covid doesn’t confer much immunity. Only moderate or serious covid does. There’s a great deal of uncertainty.
There’s no way in living hell I’d voluntarily choose to get Covid (deliberately or otherwise) in order to gain “natural immunity”, with its attendant risk of becoming severely sick or severely dead or having “long covid”. Talk about possible adverse side-effects! What in the world makes people think like this?
Just let me get the shots as soon as possible! (Which, as I noted above, I did, like all sensible people.)
But what if you already caught covid. Not because that was your choice, but because you were unlucky. If there’s a vaccine mandate, do you ALSO need to be vaccinated?
@Esprise_Me
“I’m a bit surprised you got your results that fast. Where did you get tested? “
At a CVS Minute Clinic. The antibody test is a finger prick – results in five minutes. Cost was $39 out of pocket; insurance will not pay for it. This is not a test to determine if you currently have or recently had Covid; it to determine previous infection. Having been vaccinated will also cause one to test positive for antibodies.
I took the same test. I think i had to wait 15 minutes, but yeah, it’s a walk-in, get-results test.
This particular one does not distinguish between antibodies from infection and antibodies from vaccination. There are other antibody tests that do, but i don’t think there are any that are available without a doctor’s prescription right now.
I am vaccine hesitant for the measles vaccine, because i had a bad reaction to it as a child. There was some question as to whether the batch i got was effective, and i chose to get tested for antibodies rather than get revaccinated. I have antibodies to measles, so “yay, i don’t need that shot.”
I am not hesitant re covid, and plan to get a booster shot on Thursday.
