For many of those who’ve chosen to remain unvaccinated, there is a simply, primary reason fro their hesitation: The speed at which these vaccines were created, tested, and deployed.
This isn’t an uncommon sentiment in any facet of American society; people often abstain from buying the first of anything, knowing all too well that subsequent iterations will be more well-honed, safer, and often cheaper.
This, too, is the case in the world of swiftly developed vaccines. And now that there are serious efficacy issues with one of the more popular inoculations, one has to wonder if vaccine hesitancy is here to stay.
Two real-world studies published Wednesday confirm that the immune protection offered by two doses of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine drops off after two months or so, although protection against severe disease, hospitalization and death remains strong.
The studies, from Israel and from Qatar and published in the New England Journal of Medicine, support arguments that even fully vaccinated people need to maintain precautions against infection.
One study from Israel covered 4,800 health care workers and showed antibody levels wane rapidly after two doses of vaccine “especially among men, among persons 65 years of age or older, and among persons with immunosuppression.”
And, as it turns out, getting COVID produces more powerful antibodies than these vaccines any way.
The study also indicated that immunity for people who get vaccinated after natural Covid-19 infection lasts longer. It’s especially strong for people who recovered from infection and then got vaccinated, also. “Overall, the accumulating evidence from our study and others shows that long-term humoral response and vaccine effectiveness in previously infected persons were superior to that in recipients of two doses of vaccine,” they wrote.
These studies are sure to rouse the anti-vaccine crowd as well, as they bolster several of the key points of debate that they’ve been making for months.
