COVID vaccination gives huge boost to post-infection immunity
Friday February 26th 2021
Vaccination is acting as a booster dose for people already enjoying some protection against COVID-19 after exposure to the disease, British scientists reported last night.
Two small scale studies, conducted at Imperial College, London, UK, found strong immune responses in people vaccinated after previously having the disease.
The researchers also found weak responses in over-50s who had not previously had disease, suggesting that booster doses will be important for these people.
The studies were published as research letters in The Lancet.
One study involved 51 healthcare workers, who received the Pfizer mRNA vaccine. Researchers found that vaccination increased antibody levels by 140 times for those who had previously had illness.
A second study involved another 72 healthcare workers. The researchers found that antibodies increased by 25 times and T-cell responses by ten times in those previously infected.
One of the researchers Professor Rosemary Boynton said: "Our study shows that healthcare workers who had previously had COVID-19 made a much bigger antibody response to the first vaccine dose which effectively acted as a boost."
Antibody response to first BNT162b2 dose in previously SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals. Lancet 25 February 2021
Tags: Flu & Viruses | Pharmaceuticals | UK News
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