2 ms·
> We can't effectively test in order to objectively assess who is naturally protected. There are over 43 million Americans who have already survived a lab-conf
by LurkingPenguin 5y ago
> We can't effectively test in order to objectively assess who is naturally protected.
There are over 43 million Americans who have already survived a lab-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection. You don't need to test them. Their status can be verified just as easily as a person who has a CDC vaccination card.
Oh but it's "protection" you want to talk about?
The reality is that you can't measure real-world protection in any given individual with natural immunity or vaccine-based immunity. The vast majority of people who have been vaccinated don't test their antibody titers (ever, and over time) and even if they did, there are no validated models for correlating antibody titers to real-world protection. Antibodies aren't the end-all and be-all of immunity. Immunity is complex, and there are a variety of factors (memory T and B cell responses, your overall immune health, the viral loads you're exposed to, etc.) that determine how your body will respond to a pathogen.
Moving away from family anecdotes, here's an actual case: https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4307460 https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4307460
A pilot in her 40s who received her second dose of Moderna in early August had a breakthrough infection in October. Data suggests that Moderna is the most effective vaccine and a person in her 40s is not in the age group (65+) where we see vaccine efficacy waning most quickly.
So a person who got the most effective vaccine, who is healthy enough to be a commercial airline pilot, who is not 65+, and who was fully vaccinated for less than 2 months, when her antibody titers would be expected to be very high, can still catch a breakthrough case.