Had Covid? You’ll probably make antibodies for a lifetime • Hacker News Board

Re: Had Covid? You’ll probably make antibodies for a lifetime

#111

Post by beiller » Fri, May 28, 2021, 2:45 PM UTC

pandem wrote: post #75

deweller wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing that I find so wrong about this type of argument is that the vaccine is not proven to prevent spreading the virus. It is only proven to stop the onset of COVID-19 after one contracts the virus. So the line of reasoning that argues one should get vaccinated to stop the spread of SARS-CoV-2 is not valid. Edit: Wow - the downvotes... There is some evidence that transmission is reduced, but it is not proven: "t…

I'm not sure why people keep saying this. The original studies did not study if the vaccine prevents spread, that is true. I'm not certain myself, but I believe that studies done based on COVID spread in countries where vaccination rates are high (at least Israel) point to the direction that it prevents spread as well. Are these not valid data points?

There was also the Seychelles data point which had the highest vaccinated rate and then had a large outbreak after.

Re: Had Covid? You’ll probably make antibodies for a lifetime

#112

Post by nickthemagicman » Fri, May 28, 2021, 2:45 PM UTC

heyflyguy wrote: post #40

I am being shunned by my family because of my lack of interest in the vaccine. I've had COVID and recovered. I also don't get a flu shot each year. I really like not putting things into my body, especially when year after year I may or may not "catch" these things but if I do, I always recover. I act responsibly and do not go out when I am sick. However, none of these facts or articles such as this will ever effectiv…

People talked about 'saving granny' to get you to comply with Covid restrictions but now there's literally granny's dying in India and we're giving the vaccine to perfectly healthy people in America and no one gives it a second thought!

Meanwhile, under 55 age group has a fatality chance of Covid that is less than dying in a car accident and will develop immunity after natural infection. And the under 55 age group makes up over 80% of the population.

I completely agree about fact based realities needing to take hold again!

I think we may be in a post-truth society and all that matters to people is what's the news media report instead of actual science and statistics.

The upside to people getting their reality from the media is that when the news media quits reporting on an issue it will be COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN ABOUT, much like darfur, metoo, blm, starving children, dead innocent civilians in the middle east. Poof it will just vanish in the wind as long as the politicians don't make it actionable.

So just hold out for a bit longer and the news media will stop reporting on Covid and switch to a new topic that people can be outraged over.

And no one will care at all about your vaccine.

Re: Had Covid? You’ll probably make antibodies for a lifetime

#113

Post by moses-palmer » Fri, May 28, 2021, 2:45 PM UTC

cableshaft wrote: post #79

GeekyBear wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's some evidence that a second dose of mRNA vaccine isn't necessary if you were infected with Covid. >People who have already had confirmed covid-19 might only need a single dose of a mRNA vaccine, two small studies have indicated. Two weeks after a single dose of vaccine, people who had previously had covid-19 had antibody concentrations that were as high, or up to 10 times higher, than the levels seen in uninf…

This is important when vaccine supplies are limited (in some places in the world that's the case), but not if they aren't. "Since then, one study after another has reinforced the single-vaccine-for-survivors idea, though some skeptics have pointed out that it is logistically simpler to just give everyone two doses than to figure out who needs only one...Cheng at Cedars-Sinai said she would still default to the CDC gu…

I think supply is not the only thing to consider. I suffered a SARS-CoV-2 infection around Easter, and received my first vaccine dose a week ago.

The days after that I felt much worse that when I had the actual infection, albeit for a shorter time, so I personally would appreciate an official recommendation to not have to take the second dose.

Re: Had Covid? You’ll probably make antibodies for a lifetime

#114

Post by Accacin » Fri, May 28, 2021, 2:45 PM UTC

skrowl wrote: post #93

yostrovs wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This comment avoids the facts noted in the linked article, which seem to point to perpetual immunity of anyone who was infected by SARS-CoV-2 in the past.

It's strange how the same people who scream "TRUST THE SCIENCE" the loudest seem to ignore your body naturally producing antibodies to Covid after you've been infected and recovered. You simply don't need a vaccine to help your body produce antibodies if you already have them. Not just for covid 19 but for anything. Don't let anyone shame you or pressure you into getting a vaccine that you're not comfortable getting.

What's your area of expertise regarding antibodies?

I'm quite happy admitting that I do not know anything other than the basics and trust in experts in their respective fields instead.

Re: Had Covid? You’ll probably make antibodies for a lifetime

#115

Post by vorpalhex » Fri, May 28, 2021, 2:47 PM UTC

heyflyguy wrote: post #100

exotree wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Things are being put into your body with or without your knowledge. You had no idea if you were infectious with COVID for up to 14 days possibly, so it doesn’t matter if you didn’t go out when you “felt sick.” You may feel like your being responsible, but that does not mean you feeling that way actually means you are being that way. Over 500,000 people have died. Awesome. You recovered. A lot of other people didn’t.…

Like I said, emotional arguments.

Nothing the parent poster said is an emotional argument - quite the opposite. It may be that you have an emotional response to those facts but that does not make it an emotional argument.

Re: Had Covid? You’ll probably make antibodies for a lifetime

#116

Post by itake » Fri, May 28, 2021, 2:47 PM UTC

kcmastrpc wrote: post #107

bryanlarsen wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You must have read a different article than I did. It just talked about the production of antibodies. They help fight off infection but don't necessarily make you immune. The article also specifically mentions vulnerability to variants.

Isn't that how vaccines works?

My understanding is the antibodies created from the vaccine are not the same antibodies that maybe created from having one of the main strains of the virus and thus would not offer the same level of protection.

Re: Had Covid? You’ll probably make antibodies for a lifetime

#117

Post by Wowfunhappy » Fri, May 28, 2021, 2:47 PM UTC

heyflyguy wrote: post #40

I am being shunned by my family because of my lack of interest in the vaccine. I've had COVID and recovered. I also don't get a flu shot each year. I really like not putting things into my body, especially when year after year I may or may not "catch" these things but if I do, I always recover. I act responsibly and do not go out when I am sick. However, none of these facts or articles such as this will ever effectiv…

If there was still a shortage of vaccines I'd totally agree with you, they should go to someone who doesn't already have immunity. But that's not the case, so I do think you have a responsibility.

From an administrative standpoint, it's much easier to confirm that everyone has had the vaccine. And, there's some evidence that the vaccine provides better immunity than the virus itself.

IMO, this is even more true for the flu vaccine! Flu vaccines are less effective on an individual level, so as a society we're more reliant on collective immunity to slow down the spread. Lots of people die from the flu, and a little shot each year can help keep them alive!

Re: Had Covid? You’ll probably make antibodies for a lifetime

#118

Post by johbjo » Fri, May 28, 2021, 2:48 PM UTC

dgritsko wrote: post #94

rsj_hn wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Do you think it's a reasonable thing for most people to take your stance and not get vaccinated? As with any other disease, it is reasonable (and expected) for everyone who had covid to not get vaccinated, given that the immunity you get from having the disease is always better than what you'd get from a vaccine. That this is even considered controversial by some people just goes to show you how far our science edu…

> the immunity you get from having the disease is always better than what you'd get from a vaccine. My understanding is that the opposite is true, at least based on what we know right now. Here is an article summarizing just that[1], which links to a few peer-reviewed studies (and a couple that are pending review) suggesting that the vaccines are better than natural immunity. I don't have any background in this or ag…

The linked article doesn't support either view.

The link reports that vaccines have been observed to generate higher antibody-levels than natural infections. It was also observed that vaccines seem to protect against a set of variants. This is the good news that is worth reporting.

But there are observed occurences of the opposite; that vaccinated people test negative for antibodies. Similarly, people test negative for antibodies some time after recovering. Sometimes, recovered people never test positive for antibodies.

Diagnostic tools widely available are simply not good enough to test the immune response.

Re: Had Covid? You’ll probably make antibodies for a lifetime

#119

Post by JAM1971 » Fri, May 28, 2021, 2:50 PM UTC

fortran77 wrote: post #15

tomp wrote: post #5

> The study provides evidence that immunity triggered by SARS-CoV-2 infection will be extraordinarily long-lasting. Does it? I think this pop-science article overly simplifies antibodies and immunity... I'm no doctor myself, but as was explained to me by my doctor friends (who however are not specialists in this subtopic either), there's many different layers to the immune system. It's entirely possible to have antib…

I don't think _Nature_ is considered "Pop Science".

> I don't think _Nature_ is considered "Pop Science".

Did you read the article? It isn't exactly "in depth". It isn't what I'd expect from a magazine of Nature's prominence.

Re: Had Covid? You’ll probably make antibodies for a lifetime

#120

Post by JamesSwift » Fri, May 28, 2021, 2:53 PM UTC

heyflyguy wrote: post #40

I am being shunned by my family because of my lack of interest in the vaccine. I've had COVID and recovered. I also don't get a flu shot each year. I really like not putting things into my body, especially when year after year I may or may not "catch" these things but if I do, I always recover. I act responsibly and do not go out when I am sick. However, none of these facts or articles such as this will ever effectiv…

Did you ever consider that you might have been the vector that Covid traveled through to infect all those folks around you that came down with Covid? When you draw out the network graph of Covid transmission, how many people do you think your specific infection affected downstream?

I'm not going to say you have to get vaccinated against anything, but I do see it in a lot of ways like a game of tug-of-war with society vs disease. Sure, its not essential that _everyone_ be pulling on the rope but it sure makes it a lot easier if they are. And things get really bad if more and more people stop pulling on it, especially if the other side starts getting stronger.