3 ms·

Not exactly. Natural immunity is more durable and more complete. Vaccines are often "leaky", offering only partial protection against very specific markers. Whe

• ch4s3 5y ago
  Good thing the mRNA vaccines are at least 90% effective at preventing infection from happening at all from the newer variants.
  • _red 5y ago
    >newer variants Against the original Alpha perhaps. However Delta effectiveness is nowhere near 90%...this is precisely the reason for the push for boosters.
    • ch4s3 5y ago
      Excuse me, the correct number seems to be 88%[1] effective against symptomatic COVID from the delta variant after 2 doses vs 95% for the alpha variant. [1] https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2108891 https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2108891 [edit] I'm sure with more data that number might change up or down a little, but it seems in line with other findings.
    • _ph_ 5y ago
      No, the current boosters are the same vaccine as the original vaccinations. The booster shots are given as the antibody count in your blood drops over time and the booster shot keeps them at the maximum for another half year or so. We don't have precise data about the required level of antibodies to stay healthy yet and in quite a few countries the infection rates are currently high enough to pose a real risk for vaccinated patients in the vulnerable group. The safe play is to give booster shots to keep the immune response at its best.