One of my patients, 45 years old, can not remember that he had COVID, but he has the antibodies to prove it, and the amounts are quite high. He’s glad he has the immune protection while dodging the clinical bullet. Another patient, 20 years older, with obesity and the risk of complications, developed dual pneumonia but recovered using a monoclonal antibody infusion against the SARS COV 2 virus.
What do these two patients have in common? They both developed antibodies and some immunity to the virus. A recent report from the National Institutes of Health showed that this immunity can last at least eight months.
What is still needed is a better laboratory test of this immunity, as well as permission for the COVID being restored to visit unlimited places. Science backs it up even if the government does not yet offer its letter of consent. This delay in converting scientific development into policy while penalty restrictions were in place was a major problem throughout the pandemic.
Translate science faster into policy
Consider that more than 20% of Americans and nearly 50% of those 65 and older received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine a week ago. It will surely have an impact and create the pockets of community immunity. More than 80% of COVID deaths in the United States occurred in patients 65 years of age and older. The COVID vaccines have been shown to dramatically reduce the severity of disease, and more and more data show that it reduces virus load and transmission.
More than 2 million Americans are now being vaccinated daily, and that number will soon increase as Johnson and Johnson send 4 million doses of his newly available vaccine on Monday. This single-dose vaccine, which can be stored in a refrigerator for three months, has been shown to be 85% effective against serious illnesses and 100% effective against hospitalization and death – with a single shot.
Why does the government not keep up with science and translate it into policy immediately? Consider a new Harvard study among 1.2 million people in Israel, half of whom received the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine. After two doses, the vaccine was found to be just as effective for adults over 70 as for younger people, with a 94% reduction in symptomatic COVID-19, a 87% reduction in hospitalization and, importantly, prevention of 92% of all documented infections – even at a time in Israel when the British B117 version was extremely communicable.
But these results, published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine, did not, as in Israel, lead to an immediate change in policy. In fact, the CDC planned to issue vaccination guidance on Thursday, but is continuing to do so. In Israel, meanwhile, either a proof of immunity against infection has become a ticket to reopen society. With a so-called green passport, Israelis can now gain access to gyms, shopping malls and restaurants and travel to Greece and Cypress.
It is worth the effort: I get the COVID-19 vaccine. I rely on science, Modernity and myself
Iceland enables travelers to offer passports instead of quarantine or test requirements, why can we not? Why did I have to show a negative result of the PCR test to enter Madison Square Garden to watch a basketball game with a small crowd when I could show my proof of the vaccine card from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention? Science shows that vaccination or repair of COVID or both are much more reliable indicators than a negative COVID test, which can easily be done at the wrong time in the disease process.
Consider public health, not politics
Critics of the so-called vaccine passport say that rewarding immunity is a way to punish those who are not yet immune. While this may be a reasonable point, it is essential to look at it more from a purely public health perspective; who is at risk and who is endangering others. If you are in the fast-growing immune group, you are much less likely to spread the virus or get sick. This is the core of public health. This does not mean that it is time to throw away your masks or to get back together, but it does mean that you can see your grandmother, especially if both are vaccinated.
COVID model: No, the school cannot open like the NFL. It’s much more complicated than that.
A public health perspective contains more than just the destruction of the virus; it must also take into account the loneliness and isolation caused by the attempts to control it. Sometimes these efforts are effective, especially if imposed before the spread of viral, but sometimes they are excessive and cause greater harm than good. Here is an epidemic of depression and anxiety similar to the COVID pandemic.
Our government has made many promises that it has not kept. We must not allow the vaccine to become another political weapon. We must use our immunity as a bridge to reopen society and overcome our depression and isolation before it is too late. If there is a tangible incentive to take the vaccine in terms of restaurants, gyms, movie theaters and travel, many more people will do it.
My mother-in-law, bound by multiple sclerosis, turns 80 this month. I haven’t seen her in a year, but now that we’ve been vaccinated, I’ll be on my way there soon to celebrate with her.
Dr. Marc Siegel, a member of USA TODAY’s Board of Contributors and a medical correspondent for Fox News, is a professor of medicine and medical director of Doctor Radio at NYU Langone Health. His latest book, “COVID: the Politics of Fear and the Power of Science”, was published last fall. Follow him on Twitter: @DrMarcSiegel
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This article originally appeared in the US TODAY: COVID-19 vaccines and immunity are our ticket to reopen American society