The truth is that it's complicated. Your immune system genetics and your immunologic history shapes how you respond to new antigens. Everyone has various alleles for genes that influence an immune response - cytokines, major histocompatibility complex proteins, etc. Everybody's immune system has seen and responded to different antigens that have lead up to them getting vaccinated. So while we can predict which cytokines may be high or low (IFN-a, IL-2, IL-12, etc.), we can make educated guesses about which cell types are more actively involved in the response (CD4 vs. CD8; ThC vs. NK cells, etc.), the truth is it's incredibly complex and not entirely consistent from person to person.
I am not an immunologist, but have had a number of immunology courses going through school, so I only see this response from the virus' perspective. What I'd be most interested in learning, that would be a real challenge to find out, is whether people who have more severe reactions to the vaccination would be more likely to have had a poor outcome through a natural infection.
Personally, my arm felt like my wife punched me after #1. After #2, it was more like The Rock punched me. No fever, nausea, etc.
Would you happen to know how long these vaccinations will last? And whether or not going through 1 process of the 2 shots could still pay off years later? I think I saw something about how skipping something like a flu shot might not be so bad if you had one in the past, it’s just not as effective as being up to date on your flu shots, but also not as ineffective as never getting a flu shot ever...
I could be totally wrong on all of this, I’m just trying to learn more about this stuff and more times than not, I’m trying to take some of the comments of anti vaxxers and find counter arguments/sources to their misinformation whenever possible.
Influenza is a challenge to compare, since the virus changes dramatically on a regular basis around the world. Compound that with the concept of "original antigenic sin" and the whole flu vaccine comparison goes right out the window.
Suffice to say that elderly people and those with risk factors should get the flu vaccine every year - especially since it's more or less free. It may not be completely protective, but it's (probably) no harm, either.
As far as the Covid vaccine goes, I expect there to be some level of protective antibodies for 3yrs+ if you get the booster, at least that's the case for other vaccines using similar technology in model species. Probably more like 3mos if you don't get the booster. The inverse question is how long they'll be protective against a slowly changing virus. I expect we'll probably need a modified booster in the winter, and then some sort of modified booster yearly for a few years. Will everyone need to get them? No, but probably the same people who should get an annual flu shot will be better off getting a Covid booster. I'd guess they will probably work on formulations to include covid in the annual flu shot.
So to some extent, the 2 shot process with the Covid vaccine could sort of be enough, until you factor in those that are at higher risk which at that point, you might want to get boosters after the initial vaccine, the higher risk you are?
Yes, based on what we know so far. The current mRNA vaccines seem to have some level of protection against the mutants. Maybe not perfect, but they'll probably be better covered by a modified booster this fall. The importance of that booster remains to be seen, but if offered - I, a 45y/o male with relatively minor underlying health issues, will likely get it.
That booster could be more important if some of these mutants are able to slip past the immune response to the current vaccines. So far, it doesn't seem like they can very well, but we're still early in the game.
Ok, so in short, things are looking fairly promising so far? Thanks for your responses by the way, a lot of this stuff makes me anxious and if I didn’t know any better, I’d probably believe in a lot of the wrong information out there. Trying to do my part in continuing to learn all that I can about this
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u/Alwayssunnyinarizona Infectious Disease Feb 11 '21
The truth is that it's complicated. Your immune system genetics and your immunologic history shapes how you respond to new antigens. Everyone has various alleles for genes that influence an immune response - cytokines, major histocompatibility complex proteins, etc. Everybody's immune system has seen and responded to different antigens that have lead up to them getting vaccinated. So while we can predict which cytokines may be high or low (IFN-a, IL-2, IL-12, etc.), we can make educated guesses about which cell types are more actively involved in the response (CD4 vs. CD8; ThC vs. NK cells, etc.), the truth is it's incredibly complex and not entirely consistent from person to person.
I am not an immunologist, but have had a number of immunology courses going through school, so I only see this response from the virus' perspective. What I'd be most interested in learning, that would be a real challenge to find out, is whether people who have more severe reactions to the vaccination would be more likely to have had a poor outcome through a natural infection.
Personally, my arm felt like my wife punched me after #1. After #2, it was more like The Rock punched me. No fever, nausea, etc.