3 ms·
> Herd immunity can only be achieved if a sufficiently large part of the population is vaccinated. ...or getting infected, of course.
by saint_yossarian 1y ago
> Herd immunity can only be achieved if a sufficiently large part of the population is vaccinated.
...or getting infected, of course.
- shakna 1y agoUnfortunately, thus far, Covid19 has been through too many rapid changes for natural immunity to be effective. [0] The earlier forms allowed for it, but the evolution of the virus has outstripped most natural defences. [0] https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(22)02465-5/fulltext https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6...
- ekianjo 1y agoBut somehow the vaccines catch up on the strains before they come out?
- shakna 1y agoThey attack different things in the virus. Often multiple things at once. Which really should not be surprising.
- Izkata 1y agoYou got it backwards: the vaccines specifically targeted only the spike protein, while natural infection created different antibodies against all parts of the virus.
- shakna 1y agoNovavax COVID-19 vaccine never targeted specifically the spike protein, and instead focused on boosting the creation of various different antibodies. It is also the least effective. The current breed of mRNA vaccines targets the spike protein, and the TRIM21 gene. Some of them also attack the S protein directly. All of them work to boost various antibodies. The "targets" are in addition. By targeting the spike protein, the attack hits the RNA of the virus, not just the protein. The entire cellular structure of the virus breaks down. The same with TRIM21 targets. The bodies natural defences never targeted the spike protein, and instead focuses on the N-layer, not "all parts of the virus". These natural defences rarely manage to cause the viral cell to decay, they tend to work by slowing reproduction instead.
- Izkata 1y agoNovavax's vaccine was also spike-protein-only, the difference between theirs and the mRNA ones was they created it artificially in moths then extracted it for the vaccine instead of generating inside the human body.
- zanfr 1y agosadly getting infected just means the virus will nuke your immune system (not to mention your endothelium)