Jayanth Deshmukh, medtigo Medical News November 23, 2021
According to a tiny study, COVID-19 booster shots provide more excellent and extended protection than complete vaccination with two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.
It was also discovered that the response to a booster is more robust in fully vaccinated people who have had infections.
“Because these antibody levels are so robust,” study co-author Alexis Demonbreun stated in a Northwestern University press release, “the booster could give us protection for a longer time than what we saw for two doses of the vaccine.” She is a pharmacology assistant professor at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.
The researchers examined blood samples from thirty-three healthy, fully vaccinated young adults in the Chicago area for this investigation. Their median age was forty-three, indicating that half were older and the other half were younger.
According to the study, their neutralizing antibody levels to SARS-CoV-2 fell 10-fold nine months after receiving two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. Antibody levels jumped 25-fold following a booster shot, five times more than after two vaccination doses.
According to data published Nov. 21 on medRxiv, a preprint server for health sciences, booster antibodies were fifty times stronger than those from spontaneous infection. It should be considered a preliminary discovery because the work has not yet been peer-reviewed.
According to the researchers, Booster doses provide a significant level of neutralizing antibodies against the Delta form, which should provide protection. However, because the original type of the virus is the one that vaccinations target, the response was stronger.
The findings, according to co-author Thomas McDade, are relevant to anyone considering a booster shot. We know the mRNA vaccines provide a high level of protection against severe COVID-19 infections that result in hospitalization or death,” said McDade, a fellow at the university’s Institute for Policy Research.
“However, with time, immunity wanes — particularly antibody levels that help prevent infection — and we are seeing a greater incidence of breakthrough infections as a result, particularly in combination with the emergence of the more infectious Delta variety,” he stated in the release.
According to Demonbreun, researchers believe the strong effect of booster shots seen in this small group will be replicated in a broader population.
The researchers have been studying antibody responses from spontaneous infection and after each dosage of COVID vaccinations since the pandemic began. Their findings have been reported in a variety of articles. They will keep track of antibody levels over time and look for new infections to see if immunity decreases.
