3 ms·
While I agree with some of what was said here, most discussion of “pre-existing immunity” was around immunity acquired from already having had COVID, not immuni
by ralusek 2y ago
While I agree with some of what was said here, most discussion of “pre-existing immunity” was around immunity acquired from already having had COVID, not immunity carried in from prior conditions. I thought the conversation (or lack thereof by prominent “establishment” sources) was more egregious, as adaptive/acquired immunity is a very well understood mechanism. It’s the same mechanism that vaccines are attempting to leverage.
What you’re describing, however, I would imagine is harder to test for/understand, and makes more sense that it wouldn’t immediately be at the forefront of the conversation. Genetic or otherwise inherent immunity would be hard to prove, and the mechanisms that result in that are probably not always immediately obvious in terms of what they even are, let alone how they work.
- mike_hearn 2y agoIt's probably quite hard to explain at the microbiological level for sure, but you don't need to be able to explain it to understand how it will impact outcomes. You just need to be able to measure it. Pre-existing immunity is by definition immunity that existed pre-exposure, immunity that comes from already being infected before was referred to as natural immunity. The latter was accepted as real right up until the vaccines arrived. The former never was, I guess it still isn't as this is just a university press release, not something formal from public health agencies.