And What About Vaccines?

You might want to take a glance at this Lancet article on reinfection by SARS-CoV-2. The part that most caught my attention was in their Conclusion which considers the implications of reinfections for vaccines:

Our findings have implications for the role of vaccination in response to COVID-19. If we have truly reported a case of reinfection, initial exposure to SARS-CoV-2 might not result in a level of immunity that is 100% protective for all individuals. With respect to vaccination, this understanding is established, with influenza regularly showing the challenges of effective vaccine design.30 A major limitation of our case study is that we were unable to undertake any assessment of the immune response to the first episode of SARS-CoV-2 infection. We also could not assess fully the effectiveness of the immune responses (eg, neutralising antibody titres) during the second episode, when the individual was antibody-positive for total antibody assay to the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein. If our patient is a case of natural viral evolution in vivo (although highly unlikely in view of the requirement of four reversions to reference genotypes) then the implications of these data are that SARS-CoV-2 can adapt with enough genetic dexterity to avoid a natural immune response in a manner to re-establish detectable levels of infection in an individual. If our patient is a case of reinfection, it is crucial to note that the frequency of such an occurrence is not defined by one case study: this event could be rare. The absence of comprehensive genomic sequencing of positive cases in the USA and worldwide limits the advances in public health surveillance needed to find these cases. Certainly, limitations in screening and testing availability for SARS-CoV-2 exacerbate the poor surveillance efforts being undertaken not only to diagnose COVID-19 but also to obtain actionable genetic tracking of this agent.

Maybe I’m misinterpreting that but I read it as suggesting gently that we simply don’t know enough about the virus yet to determine whether a vaccine is effective or for how long.

2 comments… add one
  • PD Shaw Link

    Here’s a tweet thread from an immunologist that emphasizes this is a rare, but expected, event. It doesn’t mean that people won’t build immunity, nor that vaccines won’t work — generally vaccines provide “more potent, lasting immunity than natural infection.”

    https://mobile.twitter.com/angie_rasmussen/status/1315810217007882240

  • steve Link

    I think your conclusion is correct. I dont understand people trying to reach definite conclusions about this new virus that behaves quite a bit differently than other respiratory viruses with which we have experience.

    Steve

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