Brainonska511
Lifer
- Dec 10, 2005
- 24,075
- 6,887
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There's a good chance that the doctor you speak of is talking out of their butt. There really isn't strong evidence one way or the other regarding long term immunity, given the fact that the virus has only been on the scene for a little over a year, and data on vaccinated individuals is just starting to hit a year, for the early phase trials.Saw a brief statement by a woman prominent doctor who's been in the news concerning covid, just a few days ago, saying she thinks there's a good chance that no boosters will be necessary, that the current vaccines will confer reasonable immunity indefinitely, variants included. It's not just the antibodies the vaccines induce, the T cells' memory can last many decades.
However, based on what we know of other viruses that mutate and have variants running around (eg, influenza), it seems reasonable for governments and companies to continue following patients in the existing Phase III trials, as well as developing potential boosters for some of the more worrisome variants.
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COVID has been a pretty awful time for reliable scientific communication. Major media outlets lack qualified science writers, they've been quick to pickup on unvetted pre-prints, some of dubious quality, and just overall poor communication of real, meaningful results.