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

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

#101

Post by rsj_hn » Fri, May 28, 2021, 2:40 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…

I would want something a bit more than studies by the vaccine maker about how good their vaccine is -- for example having those studies reproduced by a third party and comparing natural immunity to the vaccine -- before concluding that a vaccine can be better than natural immunity. It is almost always the case that natural immunity is superior to vaccines.

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

#102

Post by [deleted] » Fri, May 28, 2021, 2:41 PM UTC

seren wrote: post #86

From my understanding if you had an mRNA vaccine, your body was only exposed to an artificial spike protein, so effectively you have spike specific antibodies. On the other hand, if you had a real infection by the virus, you likely have antibodies for the spike protein and other part of the virus like the shell. So from my layman understanding, the immunity should be more resistant to a mutation of the spike protein.…

[deleted]

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

#103

Post by bryanlarsen » Fri, May 28, 2021, 2:41 PM UTC

yostrovs wrote: post #67

mehphp wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But you _did_ catch covid so being careful isn't always enough. I don't think it's emotional or unreasonable for your family to require the vaccine before you visit. Also, I'm not suggesting that you will "kill everyone" by not getting the vaccine, but it really isn't just about you and that you personally will probably recover. Do you think it's a reasonable thing for most people to take your stance and not get vacc…

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.

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.

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

#104

Post by SketchySeaBeast » Fri, May 28, 2021, 2:42 PM UTC

rsj_hn wrote: post #92

jf22 wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>given that the immunity you get from having the disease is always better than what you'd get from a vaccine This is false. Stop spreading misinformation.

Stop spreading misinformation. My comment was not false, and in fact is quite obvious. e.g. from https://www.michigan.gov/documents/mdch/Waiver_Ed_Natural_Im... "It is true that natural infection almost always causes better immunity than vaccines."

The only argument that document takes about it actually being better is that with some vaccines you need two shots instead of one. That's not compelling as being "better" at all. "Better" would imply that, once the complete course of vaccination is complete, the immunity is somehow more complete, stronger, or longer lasting.

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

#105

Post by kyleblarson » Fri, May 28, 2021, 2:43 PM UTC

eplanit wrote: post #65

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…

"get the vaccine or you are a bad citizen and will kill everyone" Yep. Notice how the "follow science" phrase isn't used anymore. It's now just a demand to comply, or else you're a horrible person.

And it's especially ironic given that most of the shaming is coming from the 'my body my choice' proponents on other issues.

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

#106

Post by Accacin » Fri, May 28, 2021, 2:43 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…

Yeah, but you did get it. I'm not particularly careful myself, but I obey our local laws, wear a mask when required, etc. and I haven't caught it but I'm still getting my vaccination on Monday.

It's also baffling to me that you say you act responsible and two paragraphs later admit to being around people who have had COVID!

To me, it's completely irresponsible to not get a vaccine if offered but I'm not going to hold it against you and I can at least understand where you are coming from.

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

#107

Post by kcmastrpc » Fri, May 28, 2021, 2:43 PM UTC

bryanlarsen wrote: post #103

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.

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?

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

#108

Post by JTbane » Fri, May 28, 2021, 2:44 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…

There are cases of even young, healthy people getting severe complications from COVID. This is not "just the flu".

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

#109

Post by zamalek » Fri, May 28, 2021, 2:44 PM UTC

nednar wrote: post #44

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…

Who said after recovery you need vaccine? Probably you just need to share official documentation from your government and official health body with your family. Afaik, recovered and vaccinated are treated the same currently.

> Probably you just need to share official documentation from your government and official health body with your family.

That's going to be tough[1]:

> Yes, you should be vaccinated regardless of whether you already had COVID-19.

[1]: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/faq.html

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

#110

Post by mumblemumble » Fri, May 28, 2021, 2:44 PM UTC

MrBuddyCasino wrote: post #21

I know two people who had covid and who right now have a second covid infection by the british mutation. One of them also had their first vaccination.

This seems like one of those situations where we all need to be saying "The plural of anecdote is not data" on the rosary every morning.

Assume, for the sake of argument, that prior infection reduces your risk of future infection by 95%. That's a far sight better than most the vaccines, enough so that a 2nd infection would be noteworthy on a personal level. But then, since this is an Internet forum, we need to throw the law of large numbers at the situation. Those figures still mean that there are perhaps tens or hundreds of thousands of people out there who are known to have caught it twice. Which then translates into a certainty that there will be quite a few people mentioning it as an interesting anecdote on public forums like this.

Then you throw a novelty effect on top of that. Say that prior infection actually confers 99% immunity. Fewer people will get re-infected, but each of those re-infections is more noteworthy, which makes it more likely that someone will want to talk about it. So the actual rate of re-infection and spread by people who've caught it gets a lot smaller, but the rate of people talking about it on the Internet, and the resulting perception people might infer of how likely it is, might stay about the same.

(Disclaimer: I do mean, "for the sake of argument." Until some firmer science on the subject is forthcoming, AFAIC it's still within the realm of possibility that prior infection doesn't confer much practical immunity at all. This study is promising, yes, but I've been around the block too many times to get all that excited over something that doesn't amount to a whole lot more than an in vitro study.)