For people who have survived a past encounter with covid-19, only one dose of mRNA vaccine may be needed for complete protection, research published Wednesday suggests. The findings add weight to the idea proposed by some experts that survivors should only receive a shot to help extend the supply of vaccines.
Researchers on Mount Sinai have been studying the depths of coronavirus immunity since the beginning of the pandemic. His previous work, for example, did suggested that natural immunity to infection tends to be robust and lasts at least six months in most survivors. Still, it remains an area of active research and rinfection is possible. And many of those who have survived covid-19 would be at higher risk for serious illness if they were unlikely to catch it and get sick again. Both doctors and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that anyone who meets the requirements for vaccination receive it, even if they have already suffered from covid-19.
Although vaccine deployment has been steadily improving since last December, only about 19% of the U.S. has received at least one dose and less than 10% have been completely vaccinated. Some scientists hope to speed up vaccination efforts he argued that covid-19 survivors should be told to receive only one dose of similar Moderna and Pfizer / BioNTech vaccines. Uuntil recently, they were the only vaccines available in the country. However, other experts have warned that we still don’t know if these people would be as fully protected as everyone who gets the standard two-dose course.
To help resolve this issue, Mount Sinai researchers examined 109 previously uninfected volunteers who had been completely vaccinated or who were survivors (confirmed by antibody testing) who at the time had only obtained a dose of any of the vaccines. of mRNA. In another group of 231 people, they compared the level of side effects reported between survivors and uninfected people after vaccination.
The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that survivors who received a dose had a similar and often greater antibody response to the coronavirus than those who were fully vaccinated. Survivors also tended to experience side effects such as pain at the site of infection or fatigue more often after the first dose, compared with uninfected people after the first dose, but at similar levels to people after the first dose. have received both complete doses. Since these side effects are usually a sign that the body’s immune system is learning to recognize the virus, this also suggests that survivors who receive only one vaccine continue to have as much protection against covid-19 as everyone else who receives two doses.
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“For this reason, we believe that a single dose of vaccine is enough for people who have already been infected with SARS-CoV-2 to achieve immunity,” said Viviana Simon, author of the study, a professor in the departments of microbiology and Mount medicine. Sinai Icahn School of Medicine, a statement released by the university.
The conclusions of the study were originally released to the public earlier last month as a preliminary document on the medRxiv website. At the time, they were notable enough for the director of the National Institutes of Health, Francis Collins, to do so write about them. While Collins favorably discussed the NIH-funded study, he also noted that other studies that support the same conclusion should be seen before there is likely to be any official change in Food and Drug Administration or CDC guidelines. The new study does not to weigh the unique Johnson & Johnson vaccine that uses a different technology to boost covid-19 immunity and what it could mean for covid-19 survivors.
If this data appears, it could very well help us expand the supply of vaccines. No one is sure yet, but 20% to 30% of the country is now had covid-19. And while access to vaccines is improving, any small increase in speed would help a lot.