Contents
On January 18, I took the third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. I was glad that I was ahead of the fifth wave, and even more so that I managed to avoid the infection, even though it was not at all obvious. Today it is exactly four months after the injection. This means one thing: my “honeymoon”, the time when I could rest assured that my SARS-CoV-2 antibodies are ready, is slowly coming to an end. According to scientific studies, the average duration of protection against coronavirus infection after vaccination is 4-6 months. What now?
- Immunity after vaccination against COVID-19 depends on many factors, including individual predispositions and the epidemic situation
- Considering the fact that most Poles recently got vaccinated at the turn of the year, and protection after vaccination expires after about 4-6 months, most of us may not protect ourselves against coronavirus infection
- The seniors who vaccinated still in the fall of 2021 are in the worst situation. With their weak immunity, entering the possible sixth wave may end tragically
- More information can be found on the Onet homepage
How long is immunity after vaccination against COVID-19?
How long is protection against COVID-19 after vaccination is not easy to answer. There are many factors at play here. The first is always the individual predisposition that determines the body’s response to the vaccine. Each of us has a different pace of the formation of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, and its effects in terms of the amount of antibodies and the amount of time in which they act “at full speed” are very different.
Much also depends on the epidemic situation. The most dangerous is when a new variant of the coronavirus comes to the fore, because once it has broken through and begins to dominate, it most likely successfully bypasses the immune response that vaccines (developed on the basis of variants existing at the time of their development).
It also matters whether we have already had COVID-19 or not. People who have had the coronavirus infection behind them and have additionally vaccinated themselves are in the best situation (in any order: infection could have been before or after the vaccination course). They can be proud of the so-called hybrid immunity – antibodies developed after contact with a live virus, as well as genetic information about it, encoded in the vaccine. Protection is also given to people who only suffered from COVID-19 (unvaccinated) and those who only got vaccinated (not infected with SARS-CoV-2), but its duration will be different in each of these cases.
The rest of the text below the video.
Scientific research shows that protection for COVID-19 vaccines lasts an average of four to six months.
Most Poles took the last dose of the vaccine in the winter of this year. The largest crowds at vaccination points recently were recorded in December 2021 and January 2022. Back then, 220 were vaccinated daily. up to 280 thousand people. Such a large interest in vaccinations was a consequence of the emergence of a new, extremely infectious variant (Omikron) and the prognosis for the fifth wave of infections in Poland, but also the opening of a booster dose registration for all ages.
Taking these data into account, it is easy to calculate that the protection of the majority of those vaccinated at that time is slowly diminishing. The worst situation is for seniors, people with reduced immunity, medics, representatives of uniformed services and professional groups, who are classified as the so-called group zero. They applied for the booster at the earliest, in September 2021. Nine months have passed since then, which is why they are at the most vulnerable to coronavirus infection. In the case of the elderly and weakened, the situation is even critical, as their immune response is extremely weak due to their age and state of health.
Wiesław Seweryn, an analyst who publishes charts and data on the course of the COVID-19 pandemic on his Twitter profile, drew attention to these disturbing data.
People who came for the injection at the end of the year are in no better position. Their resistance to SARS-CoV-2 is already at a very low levele. Poles who vaccinated just before the peak of the fifth wave (end of January) or during it (February) still have a moment of peace, but it will not last long. Their protection also gradually expires, a when the next wave of infections comes (forecast for September / October 2022), they may be almost completely defenseless against the coronavirus.
These data are not optimistic, but some correction should be made to them. The protective period after vaccination is concerned with the SARS-CoV-2 virus infection itself. Vaccines will continue to reduce the risk of severe infection, hospitalization and death from COVID-19 because that is their primary role.
Vaccination is never wasted, the body remembers information about a given pathogen so that it knows how to protect itself against it in the future. To what extent this fight will be effective is a very individual matter. Vaccines reduce the risk of hospitalization and complications, but do not completely eliminate it. So it may happen that the reinfection will be more severe than the first infection. This was mentioned in an interview with WP.pl by prof. Agnieszka Szuster-Ciesielska from the Department of Virology and Immunology at the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin.
«Reinfection does not guarantee a milder course of the disease. On the contrary, someone who was mildly ill before can now have a more severe course and is also at risk of long-term complications known as long covid »- points out the virologist.
The expert also drew attention to the fact that the course of a possible next wave may be completely different than the last one, because during the fifth wave, Omikron “found us” quite well prepared – either as a result of vaccination or infection with previous variants.
«The omicron wave was milder, but mainly because the virus encountered an ‘immune wall’ built, among others, by thanks to vaccinations. Currently, this wall is starting to crumble, and it is only May. Until the fall, this protection will be even weaker. It is also not known how the variant that will dominate in the autumn will behave »- she pointed out.
Łukasz Pietrzak also spoke about the lower level of immunization for WP.pl. A pharmacist popularizing knowledge about COVID-19 reminded that when we entered the Delta wave, we had relatively fresh immunity as most of the vaccinated people took the second dose around the holidays (May-July). Those who did not get vaccinated but fell ill, and were healers for a long time, because the third wave lasted almost until June.
“Since then, the percentage of fully vaccinated people has increased by only 9%. After lowering the number of infections, people completely lost interest in it. With time, the resistance of those healed after the omicron wave, the peak of which was at the beginning of February this year, also decreases »- he noted.
When is the fourth dose for everyone?
In Poland, the second booster dose (commonly known as the fourth dose) is not available to everyone. The Ministry of Health recommends it to seniors 80+ (they can sign up for vaccination from April 20). Perhaps soon other adults will be included in this group – according to the words of Wojciech Andrusiewicz, spokesman for the minister of health, a decision on this matter will most likely be made in June.
What strategy to adopt while waiting for the next booster? The one that doctors recommend from the very beginning of the pandemic: follow basic sanitary and epidemiological rules. Avoid large gatherings, keep social distancing, and cover your nose and mouth where this is not possible. If we feel symptoms of infection, let’s stay at home and protect others from infection. And, most importantly, let’s sign up for a vaccination, also a booster, if we haven’t already done so. The comfort of “entering” the new infection season will certainly be greater.
We encourage you to listen to the latest episode of the RESET podcast. This time we devote it to the diet. Do you have to stick to it 100% to stay healthy and feel good? Do you really have to start every day with breakfast? What is it like with sipping meals and eating fruit? Listen: