A study involving people previously infected with COVID-19 suggests that the immune response when you become ill can act like getting a first dose of the dual vaccines.
None of the trials done on the Moderna and Pfizer BioNTech vaccines have been tested on people already infected with the coronavirus. A study in which people previously infected with COVID-19 suggest that the immune response of getting sick may act like getting a first dose of the dual vaccines.
Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine believe that their findings could help make decisions to optimally utilize the limited vaccine supply.
“With a single dose, the health workers who previously had COVID had a very strong response,” said co-author of the study, Dr. Anthony Harris, professor of epidemiology and public health at the University of Maryland School of Medicine said.
The immune response of previously infected people was similar to the response usually seen on a second dose of vaccination.
“The strong response suggests that perhaps at the time of a vaccine shortage it would be the people who had to get a single-dose vaccine,” he said.
A second evidence-based suggestion is that people who have already had COVID-19 may move lower on priority lists according to Harris and co-author of the study, dr. Mohammad Sajadi, associate professor of medicine at the U.Md. . medical school, a scientist at the Institute of Human Virology and a member of the Global Virus Network.
Harris also notes that a recent study from the UK suggests that the immune response after being ill with COVID-19 protects people for at least six months.
The use of second-rate shot repulsion is already underway in Canada and the United Kingdom, where Harris believes the science behind the vaccine trials, combined with the science behind the data from his study, may be helpful in implementing a successful strategy within the set-up of limited stock.
“I would say if you are already going for a single dose – go for a single dose for people who have already had COVID infection and give you two doses at your risk with the highest risk not having COVID,” he said. Harris said.
The University of Maryland study was fairly small, but Harris said the findings were not unexpected because the way vaccines usually work is to promote previous responses.
“Although the sample size is small – and our study definitely needs to be repeated because we only had 59 health workers, the differences are so dramatic that statistical significance can be achieved,” Harris said.
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