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The question asked by the article is sensible. The uncertainty explored is whether, having had an initial vaccination, future natural infection would produce a

The question asked by the article is sensible. The uncertainty explored is whether, having had an initial vaccination, future natural infection would produce a better defence against variants than booster shots that target the spike protein alone.

XorNot 5y ago
Which is irrelevant: the booster vaccines are to provide sustained protection against the variants we have now and reduce the risk of serious complications. There is no situation in which it is a good idea to be infected with a virus rather then vaccinated against it, and comments on provided immunity from infection are irrelevant: you either become immune to what infected you or it kills you.
- walterbell 5y ago
  Current Covid vaccines are non-sterilizing. They reduce symptoms, but cannot guarantee that you will not be infected. This is covered in the article in the discussion of antibodies in the upper respiratory system (obtained from natural infection) vs antibodies in the blood (obtained from vaccination or natural infection). Future nasal vaccines, delivered by inhaler, could potentially provide sterilizing immunity, preventing infection: https://news.ycombinator.com/edit?id=28256342 https://news.ycombinator.com/edit?id=28256342
  - bluGill 5y ago
    The vaccines reduce infection chances greatly, and even if you get it they reduce the time you have it and thus how much time you can spread. Non sterilizating is technically true, but misleading. We are still better off with vaccines and can probable eliminate covid with high enough vaccine rates.
    - walterbell 5y ago
      Hopefully upcoming nasal vaccines will be even better, as noted by the UK's SAGE, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/long-term-evolution-of-sars-cov-2-26-july-2021 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/long-term-evoluti... > Whilst we feel that current vaccines are excellent for reducing the risk of hospital admission and disease, we propose that research be focused on vaccines that also induce high and durable levels of mucosal immunity in order to reduce infection of and transmission from vaccinated individuals. This could also reduce the possibility of variant selection in vaccinated individuals.
- jeromegv 5y ago
  Funny how those anti-vaxers in hospitals don’t advocate that it was all worth it for their immunity they just built. You either get the immunity through a shot or through an infection. One has very much worse chances of bringing you to the hospital.
- Vecr 5y ago
  Why? Natural boosting is totally legitimate, look at the rotavirus strategy in the US for example. You get the vaccine three times soon after you are born, and then never again after that, because your immune system matures and you get infected (without severe symptoms) many times.
- foobarbaz33 5y ago
  For sake of discussion assume all infections are accidental, and everyone follows anti-infection protocols to the letter. Here are a few (but not all) states someone can be in. A. vaccinated B. vaccinated -> natural infection -> recovered C. vaccinated -> booster D. vaccinated -> booster -> natural infection -> recovered Let's assume it was proven state D has the best efficiency against covid variants. Option D includes the booster. So boosters would always be a good idea. But even if boosters are a good idea in all cases, it is worth studying whether people in state B or C have better efficiency against covid variants. Gaining knowledge is good. It may (or may not) be a fact that state B has superior efficiency to state C.

XorNot 5y ago

Which is irrelevant: the booster vaccines are to provide sustained protection against the variants we have now and reduce the risk of serious complications. There is no situation in which it is a good idea to be infected with a virus rather then vaccinated against it, and comments on provided immunity from infection are irrelevant: you either become immune to what infected you or it kills you.

walterbell 5y ago
Current Covid vaccines are non-sterilizing. They reduce symptoms, but cannot guarantee that you will not be infected. This is covered in the article in the discussion of antibodies in the upper respiratory system (obtained from natural infection) vs antibodies in the blood (obtained from vaccination or natural infection). Future nasal vaccines, delivered by inhaler, could potentially provide sterilizing immunity, preventing infection: https://news.ycombinator.com/edit?id=28256342 https://news.ycombinator.com/edit?id=28256342
- bluGill 5y ago
  The vaccines reduce infection chances greatly, and even if you get it they reduce the time you have it and thus how much time you can spread. Non sterilizating is technically true, but misleading. We are still better off with vaccines and can probable eliminate covid with high enough vaccine rates.
  - walterbell 5y ago
    Hopefully upcoming nasal vaccines will be even better, as noted by the UK's SAGE, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/long-term-evolution-of-sars-cov-2-26-july-2021 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/long-term-evoluti... > Whilst we feel that current vaccines are excellent for reducing the risk of hospital admission and disease, we propose that research be focused on vaccines that also induce high and durable levels of mucosal immunity in order to reduce infection of and transmission from vaccinated individuals. This could also reduce the possibility of variant selection in vaccinated individuals.
jeromegv 5y ago
Funny how those anti-vaxers in hospitals don’t advocate that it was all worth it for their immunity they just built. You either get the immunity through a shot or through an infection. One has very much worse chances of bringing you to the hospital.
Vecr 5y ago
Why? Natural boosting is totally legitimate, look at the rotavirus strategy in the US for example. You get the vaccine three times soon after you are born, and then never again after that, because your immune system matures and you get infected (without severe symptoms) many times.
foobarbaz33 5y ago
For sake of discussion assume all infections are accidental, and everyone follows anti-infection protocols to the letter. Here are a few (but not all) states someone can be in. A. vaccinated B. vaccinated -> natural infection -> recovered C. vaccinated -> booster D. vaccinated -> booster -> natural infection -> recovered Let's assume it was proven state D has the best efficiency against covid variants. Option D includes the booster. So boosters would always be a good idea. But even if boosters are a good idea in all cases, it is worth studying whether people in state B or C have better efficiency against covid variants. Gaining knowledge is good. It may (or may not) be a fact that state B has superior efficiency to state C.