Re:What the Omicron wave is revealing about human immunity
by logic_beats_pro on Thursday February 03, 2022 @06:18PM
(#30200441)
And if one's natural immunity came from a previous coronavirus infection from 10 year ago?
There is such a thing as cross reactive immunity. Look at the diamond princess cruise ship. They were locked in close quarters sharing a ventilation system for 2 weeks and only 20% of the guests tested positive.
Re:What the Omicron wave is revealing about human immunity
by nradov on Thursday February 03, 2022 @05:44PM
(#30200103)
I would encourage everyone eligible to protect themselves by getting vaccinated, but there were millions of people who got infected before there were any vaccines available. The vast majority of those recovered patients now have durable cellular immunity which will usually protect them against severe symptoms in subsequent reinfections.
The 'natural immunity' argument never makes sense if you think about it. You're comparing the chances of a SECOND covid infection of an unvaccinated person to a vaccinated person's first infection. If you compare vaccinated vs unvaccinated people and their chances of their first and second covid infections, the vaccinated person wins in both cases.
Also, the first infection is the riskiest one. So going through the riskiest infection to get immunity for a second, less risky infection doesn't really make sense.
If it's about whether someone who had covid already should count as being vaccinated, maybe. But that also risks incentivizing people catching covid on purpose instead of taking the vaccine.