[Irace86.2.0]

Originally Posted by Ultramaroon

This is brand new biotech. mRNA with instructions to create the spike protein is encased in a simple vehicle that cells readily absorb. Cells spit out the spike protein and the body says "Hey, that ain't right." and gobble them. Then the body knows to quickly attack those same spikes on the Rona.


I think the body's natural immune response is to something other than the spike. @Irace86.2.0, amirite?

I think it is likely that the body will make antibodies to the spike protein and other proteins when someone gets COVID, but specifically having antibodies to the spike protein could be better at halting the virus upon reinfection. It could be the case that the body developed many different antibodies when someone got infected, and the body lost some of those antibodies because they weren't prolific enough to hold onto, so a vaccine focused on one protein and thus one antibody could lead to better, specific immunity.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/05/h...-immunity.html

Vaccines for some pathogens, like pneumococcal bacteria, induce better immunity than the natural infection does. Early evidence suggests that the Covid-19 vaccines may fall into this category. Volunteers who received the Moderna shot had more antibodies — one marker of immune response — in their blood than did people who had been sick with Covid-19.

In other cases, however, a natural infection is more powerful than a vaccine. For example, having mumps — which can, in rare cases, cause fertility problems in men — generates lifelong immunity, but some people who have received one or two doses of the vaccine still get the disease.

To Mr. Paul’s point: Natural immunity from the coronavirus is fortunately quite strong. A vast majority of people infected produce at least some antibodies and immune cells that can fight off the infection. And the evidence so far suggests that this protection will persist for years, preventing serious illness, if not reinfection.

But there is a “massive dynamic range” in that immune response, with a 200-fold difference in antibody levels.