Is your COVID-19 vaccine still working? Dr. Grzesiowski tells how to calculate

The Omicron BA.5 sub-variant is not only the most easily spreading mutation of the coronavirus to date. Scientists also suggest that among the existing variants, the best “escape” of immunity. No wonder many people ask themselves: is my vaccine still working? Immunologist Dr. Paweł Grzesiowski replies: still protection against Omikron, but on one condition.

1. Bow. Bartosz Fiałek: if someone took only two doses of vaccination against COVID-19, in the current reality he is theoretically unprotected
2. Dr. Paweł Grzesiowski: thanks to the immunological memory, we still have protection against Omikron, if no more than four to five months have passed since the last dose
3. Doctors are calling for the backlog of COVID-19 vaccinations to be made up as soon as possible
4. “If you’re not up to date with vaccines or booster doses, take them now or prepare for a harsh winter,” US President Joe Biden’s medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci recently warned
5. More information can be found on the Onet homepage

The BA.5 mutation is better at “escape” immunity

Research shows that all Omicron sub-variants have some ability to escape antibodies. In a study published in Science in July, researchers suggested that BA.5 is the most immune-resistant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.

There is also optimistic news. The observations so far show that, compared to other variants, Omikron BA.5 is more often associated with a milder course of COVID-19. Most breakthrough infections (after vaccination or earlier illness) do not lead to severe disease.

It should not be forgotten that there are still people at particular risk of severe COVID-19. – These are the elderly, patients with numerous comorbidities, immunocompromised patients, as well as unvaccinated people, including those who did not take a booster dose – the drug enumerated in a recent interview with Medonet. Bartosz Fiałek.

Is your vaccine working? Doctors say when it is

Given the above, many people vaccinated against COVID-19 ask themselves: is my vaccine still working and what am I protected from? First, important words of Bartosz Fiałek. – If someone recorded only two exposures, for example, took only two doses of the vaccination against COVID-19, in the current reality it is theoretically unprotected – says Bartosz Fiałek.

– Of course, in the context of previous lines of development, such a person has built an appropriate immune response, but in the face of the subvariants currently circulating in the environment, this protection is negligible at this epidemiological status, if it exists at all. On the one hand, the virus has changed dramatically, on the other – a long time has passed since the second dose of the vaccine was taken – explained the doctor.

Dr. Paweł Grzesiowski, whom we also asked about protection against Omikron, spoke in a similar vein. “The good news is that thanks to immunological memory, we still have protection against Omicrons if it’s been less than four to five months since the last dose,” he says directly.

“You are not up to date with vaccinations, you will get in trouble”

– If someone has only taken two doses, they should now take the third dose, and if they have had three doses of the vaccine, if they are over 60 years old or, regardless of age, have a chronic disease that may cause an immune disorder, they should take as soon as possible. the fourth dose – advises Dr. Grzesiowski, recalling that from July 22 it is also an official recommendation of the Ministry of Health.

Recently, the words of Dr. Fauci, immunologist and medical adviser to US President Joe Biden, have echoed loudly. People who have not taken two vaccines and booster doses against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus will get into trouble, CNBS warned on TV.

The expert indicated that the Omicron BA.5 sub-variant is already adept at partially avoiding vaccine-induced protective antibodies. However, he emphasized that this was no reason to avoid vaccine doses: some protection against infection is better than no infection, and vaccines are still exceptionally good at preventing severe illness, hospitalization and death – he reminded.