Don’t expect COVID vax to last a lifetime
As the world inches closer to the long-awaited light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel in what feels like a never-ending pandemic, how long will the light last?
The duration of immunity following coronavirus vaccination is still largely unknown due to the simple lack of time we’ve had to study such immune responses.
In Thursday’s Vaccine and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee meeting on Moderna’s candidate, Dr. A. Oveta Fuller, a temporary voting member of the committee, said researchers expect it’s not a “lifelong vaccine.”
Both Pfizer’s and Moderna’s mRNA two-dose vaccines are extremely effective and trigger immune responses mere days following vaccination.
Pfizer’s vaccine showed early protection 12 days after the first dose and 7 days after the second dose, according to data in the New England Journal of Medicine.
High levels of antibodies in Moderna trial participants remained three months after the second dose, a study shows.
It typically takes the body a few weeks to build robust immunity following vaccination, according to the Centers for Disease Control, providing a reminder that even after receiving a vaccine, wearing a mask and social distancing will be important.
We know natural immunity to COVID-19 can last upwards of a year so far, according to Dr. Todd Ellerin, director of infectious disease at South Shore Health, and vaccine-related immunity could be long-lasting, too.
In addition to immunity, many other unknowns remain about a coronavirus vaccine, such as its longterm effects, impact on transmission and efficacy in pregnant women and children.
Thankfully, COVID-19 is mutating much slower than influenza, which requires a new vaccine every year.
When coronavirus immunity diminishes, people might start to show signs of illness again and it will be time to revaccinate the nation — but that’s OK.
The mRNA vaccine platform that has been developed is even more important than the vaccine itself, so when immunity diminishes we will be ready.
Science and worldwide collaboration have given us the technology to put an end to the deadly and dark days of this pandemic with safe and effective vaccines, which are nothing short of a miracle.
Regardless of how long immunity lasts, I hope we can all find comfort in knowing we have more tools than ever to make sure coronavirus doesn’t trample us all over again.
“COVID-19 is going down, it just doesn’t know it yet,” Ellerin said.
Alexi Cohan is the Herald’s