https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/21/healt...-bn/index.html
Small sample size, so I am dubious of that quoted number, but it looks like there is significant benefit from the booster.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/21/healt...-bn/index.html
Small sample size, so I am dubious of that quoted number, but it looks like there is significant benefit from the booster.
Seems like there's not enough data yet and not enough controlled experiments to do comparisons to see the "optimal" mix and match. So, no recommendations and basically "do what you want" but all combinations increase protection. I would probably go with an mRNA one if I got JnJ before...As a Moderna recipient (that doesn't qualify for a booster yet), not sure what I'd do next. Probably stick with mRNA, but maybe there is some advantage to two different technologies...Seems like nobody knows yet, and are just guessing mostly.
Causes some confusion perhaps, but I still like it because there is data to show increased protection with the "mix and match" and affords people more flexibility. So, it's not harmful and is helpful, just don't have enough data to be "optimally" helpful yet. But I'll take flexibility and helpful for now rather than waiting for the bureaucratic process further to try to achieve the perfection that doesn't exist.
Silly question that has probably been asked/answered before - is there a test to see if you vaccination is still working/protecting like it is supposed to work? I think if you had Covid they can test for the antibodies. Does that work for the vaccinated as well? Or am I making that up?
I'm just an accountant who loses track of medical info after a while.
There is a spike protein antibody test and there is a nucleocapsid protein antibody test; people who are infected make antibodies to both antigens, but those who are vaccinated only make antibody to the spike protein (there is no nucleocapsid antigen in the vaccine).
HOWEVER, we do not yet know the correlates of protection; in other words, we don't know what level of antibody is protective. Therefore, drawing an antibody test could tell you whether you had detectable antibodies, but it can't tell you how protected you are. Therefore, for right now at least, it seems like a waste of time and money.
I am hopeful that over time we will figure out what level of residual antibody is required to keep people healthy. If we knew that, antibody testing could become helpful.
"We are not provided with wisdom, we must discover it for ourselves, after a journey through the wilderness which no one else can take for us, an effort which no one can spare us, for our wisdom is the point of view from which we come at last to regard the world." --M. Proust
Isn't some of the protection also afforded by T Cells? Is there a test for that? I haven't heard of one.
Sounds like we can't really test how much "protection" we possess based on these tests at the moment (based on what you said). Interesting, though, that I believe antibody levels is what is being used as evidence COVID vaccine protection for children given they couldn't gauge it based on infection/severe disease like adults given such low numbers. But I guess we know it's SOME indication of protection, but just don't know what levels/how much are really needed.
I had my yearly physical and review of bloodwork last week and my primary care physician said the exact same thing. Apparently my COVID antibodies are off the charts, but she said they have no way of interpreting this and suggested I get a booster in a few months anyway. Always great to know I'm getting advice consistent with a true expert like rsvman!
Rich
"Failure is Not a Destination"
Coach K on the Dan Patrick Show, December 22, 2016
Just went down to see my special doc in Boston, and she told me she's found that some of her patients have shown low antibody levels...she indicated a general range she'd like to see me in, but emphasized how it's not 100% clear...so off I go soon for another test. Hope I fall within her happy range.
"We are not provided with wisdom, we must discover it for ourselves, after a journey through the wilderness which no one else can take for us, an effort which no one can spare us, for our wisdom is the point of view from which we come at last to regard the world." --M. Proust
I had Pfizer initially and got my Pfizer booster today. I actually would have preferred to get a Moderna booster but CVS (where I had my appt) didn't have it. I could have cancelled my appt but I just didn't want to wait any longer. I'm 8 months post 2nd shot and in a somewhat vulnerable group.
Maybe Booster II will be Moderna.
T-cell levels are something researchers are looking at, however, so maybe there will be a test in the future. From the NYT:
Dr. Lyke cautioned against drawing hasty conclusions from the results so far.
The researchers hope that by next month they’ll know how well the different boosters increase T cells, not just antibodies. It’s possible that Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine will shine in those results. “We’ll get a more rounded picture,” she said.
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/10...ccine-boosters
Last edited by MChambers; 10-21-2021 at 04:29 PM. Reason: fixed typo
There are lots of ways to look at T cell protection and lots of studies. We know what to look for in a relative sense. Treatment A is stronger than Treatment B for this key parameter.
Here is a link describing a recently published study looking at COVID CD4 T cell responses from a prominent researcher (and former colleague) at Penn. It details differing levels of T cell responses seen in different COVID cohorts. Double vaccinees, COVID positive with one vaccination, etc.
https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/ne...vid19-vaccines
However, there are no set correlates of protection for T cells (what exactly is the right measurement or how much of that measurement might be needed) and as rsvman mentioned there is definitely not a diagnostic, clinical test for T cell protection for COVID or any other virus as far as I am aware.
Coach K on Kyle Singler - "What position does he play? ... He plays winner."
"Duke is never the underdog" - Quinn Cook
Here's YLE on boosters. A lot seems to depend on your risk profile. For me, being a 64 year old male who got a shot of J&J in February, it seems that I should get an mRNA vaccine. Hard to choose between Pfizer and Moderna. I'll probably go with whichever of those two I can get in the next week.
https://yourlocalepidemiologist.subs...-get-data-from
Got the Pfizer boost today. Nasty arm pain with this one. Hopefully I don’t wake up at 2 am freezing to death like I did with #2. We shall see!
That was my experience with dose #2 (except that it hit me about an hour before I planned on going to bed instead of after). My arm was sore before I was done waiting the 15 minutes for allergic reactions, which I took as a bad sign (I never had any arm soreness or symptoms with dose #1). Fingers crossed!