Editorial: Should people who have recovered from COVID be vaccinated?

The United States is now entering the next important stage of eradication COVID-19 (new coronavirus infection) (# If there is no character limit, add parentheses when it first appears -Vaccine administration. Of course, there are important issues to address, such as how vaccines are distributed, which segment of the population should be prioritized for vaccination, and whether masks should continue to be worn until herd immunity is achieved.

In addition, we need to answer another important question. Should people who have recovered from COVID be vaccinated?

This question is relevant for all vaccines currently under development. A brief review of the history of vaccines shows that the success rate of developing new vaccines is about 7%. Given the fact that there are more than 200 vaccines in clinical trials or ready for clinical trials, at least 14 vaccines should be clinically successful. To date, China’s Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Novavax, Johnson & Johnson, GlaxoSmithKline and CNBG have stated that 80% to 95% of vaccinated people are protected from COVID. I am reporting. One company may not be able to produce enough vaccines for all its customers, but the fact that so many companies report successful vaccine development is a tremendous result.

From an immunological and bioethical point of view, there are several reasons why a person who has recovered from COVID should be vaccinated. First, providing a vaccine to a person is no different than a person who has recovered and then re-exposed or re-infected. In both cases, the individual initiates a rapid immune response and is asymptomatic or presents with mild and manageable symptoms. In fact, re-exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus and vaccination may even boost a person’s immunity to future COVID infections.

Our immune system is brilliantly designed to protect us from new and future viral infections after we have recovered from the viral infection. It contains an immunological library of the lymphatic system that stores memory lymphocytes programmed to respond to almost any past infection that a person has encountered. Upon exposure to one pathogen a second or third time, these memory lymphocytes escape from retirement and quickly prevent reinfection. Because vaccines are designed to mimic viral exposure without inducing dangerous viral infections, these resident memory cells only reignite the immune system to reduce the infection and cause disease. there is no.

Equally important, re-exposure to the virus or vaccination allows the immune system to produce better memory lymphocytes to fight future infections. For example, the HPV vaccine Gardasil is known to provoke a stronger immune response than exposure to the natural virus. Similarly, tetanus vaccines provoke a stronger immune response than exposure to Clostridium tetani.

Finally, vaccines can elicit protection against several other viruses. There is plenty of data showing that people vaccinated against measles, flu, or TB produce lymphocytes that also help protect against COVID. In fact, one of the reasons infants do not show severe COVID is that regular childhood vaccination strengthens overall immunity.

There is no clinical evidence from other viruses that have recovered from a single infection and that vaccinated people develop adverse side effects. From an ethical point of view, there are numerous complex issues regarding who should be vaccinated in what order. Why do we need to add another complication of vaccine delivery?

Therefore, all medically competent individuals should be vaccinated as soon as possible. During non-pandemic periods, individuals must have the autonomous right to choose which vaccine to vaccinate and whether to vaccinate, even when exposed to pathogens. In this pandemic, healthcare providers must stop the infection by immunizing as many medically competent people as possible. This reduces the time it takes to achieve herd immunity and returns our lives until we no longer need to wear masks, social distances, or quarantines.

Dr. John RoykeIs a bioethicist and professor of biology at the University of Turo and the University System.