A new report indicating preliminary data coming from Israel, one of the countries with the highest vaccination rates in the world, shows that immunity to COVID is stronger when it comes from a natural infection and not vaccination. Breakthrough cases of COVID happens when a person is fully vaccinated yet still gets the disease.
According to the Times of Israel, Channel 13 reports cited preliminary data on patients who recovered from COVID. The reports showed that these recovered patients may be better protected from reinfection or breakthrough cases than those who got inoculated with an experimental drug.
Since May 1, 72 patients who were previously infected with COVID got the disease again, accounting for just 1% of confirmed new cases. This is compared to 3,000 vaccinated individuals who got infected with COVID, accounting for 40% of new infections.
This data led some experts to conclude that immunity to COVID is stronger among those who had been infected with the coronavirus versus those who got the jab.
According to The Blaze, the U.K. and Israel are two countries that offer exemplary data into the effects of the COVID vaccine and how effective it is in protecting against the disease. Comparing European countries by recent cases per million versus vaccination rates reveals that there is no correlation. In addition, eastern European countries who have lower vaccination rates appear to have fewer cases of COVID.
"A natural infection induces hundreds upon hundreds of antibodies against all proteins of the virus, including the envelope, the membrane, the nucleocapsid, and the spike," Dr. Ryan Cole, a Mayo Clinic-trained pathologist told The Blaze.
"Dozens upon dozens of these antibodies neutralize the virus when encountered again. Additionally, because of the immune system exposure to these numerous proteins (epitomes), our T cells mount a robust memory, as well," Cole explained. "Our T cells are the 'marines' of the immune system and the first line of defense against pathogens. T cell memory to those infected with SARSCOV1 is at 17 years and running still."
The problem with COVID vaccines is that the body only launches immunity to the spike and its constituent proteins, and not the virus itself. It thereby produces "much fewer neutralizing antibodies." Moreover, with the coronavirus constantly mutating across the globe, COVID vaccines' one-size-fits-all approach won't be able to accommodate changing spikes.
Health experts are already debating on whether vaccinated folks need a third dose as some kind of a "booster shot" to help prevent breakthrough infections, especially when the protection of COVID vaccines such as Pfizer eventually wane after six or so months. This is compared to the natural immunity from COVID infection, which Irish researchers found that among 600,000 patients who recovered from COVID, only 0.27% of them were reinfected.
In Qatar, a study found that there is "no evidence of waning of immunity for over seven months of the follow-up period." Reinfections that did occur were "less severe than primary infections." This goes to show how more studies are need to prove that patients who had a natural infection may obtain a great deal of protection and need not get a COVID vaccine.
