Quote:
Originally Posted by opendoor
Actually evidence is suggesting that that may not be the case at all. Multiple studies have come out in the last week that showed several things which call that into question:
-infection with Omicron after any previous exposure to COVID (either through prior infection or vaccination) doesn't provide a very robust immune response to Omicron after recovery. This likely explains why we're seeing more quick reinfections from Omicron and its associated variants than in prior waves.
-in particular, people infected with earlier variants had impaired cellular responses after an Omicron infection compared to vaccinated people (with no history of infection) who experienced breakthrough infections. In fact, those who were infected in the first wave and subsequently vaccinated saw essentially no boost at all after an Omicron infection and had an overall poorer response compared to vaccinated people who were not infected in prior waves.
-it's speculated that immune imprinting from prior infections is hindering the response to subsequent infections of different variants in a way that isn't been seen through repeated vaccinations.
On the other hand, we now have evidence that Moderna's multivalent booster as a 4th dose is effective at generating an enhanced response to Omicron. So taken together with the above, that would suggest that Omicron infection does not provide a more effective booster compared to vaccination, and obviously carries a much higher risk.
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As I understood it, this is regarding previous infection from a non-Omicron variant whereas if you never had COVID until Omicron, natural immunity gained from being infected from Omicron was still effective, especially against severe outcomes. It does seem though a higher frequency of reinfections are occurring in this wave (I’ve experienced it myself). I guess what I’m saying, does it matter? We get colds all the time anyways.
In this study, it seemed the most ineffective protection was people who had only been vaccinated twice. The effectiveness was similar when looking at vaccinated and previously infected, or boosted.
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2203965