Fact Check: No, innate immunity does not replace vaccination, experts say-nationwide

Innate immunity does not protect you COVID-19 (New Coronavirus Infection) Similar to the mRNA vaccine, according to both experts and research.

Several anti-vaccine groups have touted innate immunity as a viable alternative to vaccination, but experts say innate immunity is unreliable, especially when there are safe and effective vaccines out there.

Doctors say you need to be vaccinated even if you are already infected with COVID.

“The idea of ​​innate immunity, people adopt and implement it, and think that they do not need to be vaccinated.” That’s not true either, “said Dr. Sumon Chakrabarti.

“Innate immunity does protect you, but we don’t know how much.”

Vaccines, on the other hand, provide consistent protection against COVID-19. And unlike innate immunity, you don’t have to get sick to get the vaccine’s protective effect.

When you get sick and eventually defeat the virus, your body learns about the virus that made you sick — so you can ideally avoid being infected again in the future.

“Our immune system has evolved over millions of years to provide lasting immunity from the infectious diseases we encounter early in life,” said a student at McMaster University. Dr. Matthew Miller, Assistant Dean of the Department of Chemistry and Biomedical Sciences, said.

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The same thing happened when Canadians were infected with COVID-19 — in a sense.

If they survive the disease, patients generally appear with some protection against COVID-19. So, Chakrabalti said there is certainly a “mass of truth” in the idea that natural immunity helps keep people a little safer from the virus.

However, the level of protection that Canadians can get from catching COVIDs is inconsistent.

“There is a great deal of variability in the immunity that comes from natural infections,” says Miller.

“For example, we know that people with very mild or asymptomatic cases have much lower immune levels than people with more symptomatic or severe infections.”

In contrast, mRNA vaccines provide a high level of protection against the serious consequences of COVID-19 and do so consistently.

“People who claim innate (excessive) vaccine-induced immunity often do so under the assumption that innate immunity is superior,” Miller said.

“And in the context of COVID-19, and especially when compared to our COVID mRNA vaccine, there is no strong evidence that it is the case.”

In fact, there are some studies that suggest that this is not the case.

One study published on June 30 Scientific translation medicine It was found that people who were fully vaccinated with the modelna vaccine had broader protective antibodies against the mutants than those produced by COVID-19 patients.

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NS CDC released Similar findings. Among residents of Kentucky who were infected with COVID in 2020, unvaccinated residents were more than twice as likely to be re-infected as fully vaccinated residents.

What’s more, a June study shows that COVID-19 infection can weaken your immune response. Published by Oxford University, COVID-19 variants may be at increased risk of catching.

Unvaccinated individuals are also 7 times more likely to catch COVID-19, 25 times more likely to be hospitalized, and more likely to be in the ICU due to illness than fully vaccinated people. It is 60 times higher. New report From the Ontario COVID-19 Scientific Advisory Board.

But if you’re still getting jabs after recovering from COVID, Miller said something interesting could happen: even higher levels of immunity. Allegedly take root..

“There is very good evidence that people who have been infected before and who have been vaccinated since then are the best protected of all,” Miller said.

In fact, studies have shown that they may be able to achieve that level of protection with just one jab. In the New York Times It was proposed. Chakra Balti agreed.

“Evidence shows that when an infected person actually receives a single dose of the vaccine, it is actually a very strong immunity,” he said.

Doctors warned that pursuing innate immunity is also dangerous.

In Alberta, many residents have since been admitted to the ICU. There is reportedly a COVID party Intentional bidding to infect COVID-19 and acquire antibodies against the virus.

“Inevitably, to get immunity, you must first go through the process of infection,” Miller said.

“And, obviously, in the context of COVID-19, these infections can be very serious and sometimes fatal.”

Chakra Balti agreed with Miller.

“It is not advisable to intentionally expose yourself when you are not ill, given that you are at risk of getting sick. There is a risk of others getting sick.” He said.

Chakra Balti added that intentional exposure to COVID-19 at a party “could have a significant spillover effect on the community.”

“When you are in an area that has a very very expanded hospital capacity, and now you have one of many types of events where multiple people get sick and potentially hospitalized. I have, it just adds tension, “he said.

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Some people may not even know that they have an underlying condition, and it can put them in serious danger if they catch COVID-19, Miller says. I did.

“They assume low risk, but then become infected, and some underlying conditions that were previously unnoticed surface and end up in life-sustaining or, in the worst case, die,” he said. Stated.

“It’s really irresponsible at the individual level and rolls the dice in a more irresponsible way at the community level.”

Chakra Balti says that when it comes to the potential benefits of innate immunity, you should avoid “throwing your baby in the bath water”, but it’s also important to keep those benefits in mind.

“This shouldn’t be a controversial topic just because some individuals are distorting the message,” he said.

“We should be able to talk about these very important infectious disease issues and what they are. It’s a meaningful scientific concept.”

Miller agreed that there is “truth” in the fact that “natural immunity is immunity and we can be protected by it.”

“But achieving immunity by choice is not a wise strategy.”

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