HomeLifestyleHealth & FitnessWaning immunity from COVID vaccines doesn't mean something bad is happening -...

Waning immunity from COVID vaccines doesn’t mean something bad is happening – say experts

Published on

Experts say that those worried about fading protection from COVID-19 vaccines, new infections, and the need for booster doses in the general population could benefit from a dose of some important context.

Antibodies, your first line of protection against COVID-19 infection, are declining — and may be doing so as you read this — but this is predictable.

While one part of your COVID-19 vaccine-induced immunity is technically “waning” in the weeks and months following vaccination, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing — because it’s not your immune system’s only type of protection against the virus.

“I don’t even like the term,” says immunologist Jennifer Gommerman from the University of Toronto.

“And the reason I don’t like the term is that it implies that the immune response in its entirety is declining.”

It’s “entirely normal” for antibody levels to dip after vaccination and for your immune response to the virus to become “contracted” over time, she says. However, your body is also producing “highly efficient” memory B cells to combat COVID-19 in the long run.

B cells function swiftly to make significant amounts of antibodies in the weeks following vaccination, but they normally produce more effective antibodies over time, helping in the sharpening of the long-term response to a virus.

While reports of dwindling immunity may be worrying, that first drop in antibody levels may be crucial in the fight against COVID-19, as it helps in fine-tuning the immune system’s strategy of attack.

New research published in the journal Science discovered that B cells retained “robust cellular immune memory” for at least six months following mRNA vaccine against all circulating strains of the virus — including the highly infectious delta.

Unlike the initial wave of antibodies, the study discovered that memory cells continue to learn how to fight the virus months after vaccination and are actually improving with time.

“That doesn’t sound like ‘waning’ to me,” says Gommerman.

“There’s a natural contraction, but waning implies that something bad is happening.” 

The tragic death of former US Secretary of State Colin Powell from COVID-19 spurred a new round of discussion regarding emerging diseases and waning immunity.

However, little attention was paid to the fact that he was at a higher risk due to blood cancer known as multiple myeloma.

According to Gommerman, older, frailer people living with comorbidities in communal settings, such as long-term care homes, are at a higher risk of developing new infections since their antibody levels decline “much faster” than in the general population.

A recently published study from Toronto’s Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute at Sinai Health assessed 119 Ontario long-term care residents and 78 staff members over four months and discovered significantly lower levels of neutralizing antibodies in elderly patients.

Gommerman also emphasizes there’s an important difference between infections and disease.

“We expect people to get infected — even healthy people to get infected — as antibody levels decline, because the only thing that can protect you against a breakthrough infection are antibodies,” she said.

“But we have to think about who we’re looking at, and what underlying comorbidities might be there in people who experienced breakthrough disease.”

Other vulnerable groups, such as transplant recipients, have reported lower protection from COVID-19 vaccines, as researchers at the University Health Network (UHN) in Toronto published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

“If you are a healthy person and you’ve been fully vaccinated, you don’t need to worry about getting severe COVID-19,” says Gommerman. 

“If you are worried about getting infected with SARS-CoV-2, you should worry because you have people around you who are not vaccinated or who are under-immune.”

Image Credit: Getty

You were reading: Waning immunity from COVID vaccines doesn’t mean something bad is happening

Latest articles

Here’s How and When Mount Everest-sized ‘Devil Comet’ Can Be Seen With Naked Eye

Mount Everest sized Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks, also known as "devil comet" which is making its...

Something Fascinating Happened When a Giant Quantum Vortex was Created in Superfluid Helium

Scientists created a giant swirling vortex within superfluid helium that is chilled to the...

The Science of Middle-aged Brain and the Best Thing You Can Do to Keep it Healthy, Revealed

Middle age: It is an important period in brain aging, characterized by unique biological...

Science Shock: Salmon’s Food Choices Better at Reducing Risk of Heart Disease and Stroke

Salmon: Rich in Health Benefits, Yet May Offer Less Nutritional Value - This is...

More like this

Here’s How and When Mount Everest-sized ‘Devil Comet’ Can Be Seen With Naked Eye

Mount Everest sized Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks, also known as "devil comet" which is making its...

Something Fascinating Happened When a Giant Quantum Vortex was Created in Superfluid Helium

Scientists created a giant swirling vortex within superfluid helium that is chilled to the...

The Science of Middle-aged Brain and the Best Thing You Can Do to Keep it Healthy, Revealed

Middle age: It is an important period in brain aging, characterized by unique biological...