Anthony Fauci, MD, recognizes that at some point, his protective effect on the COVID-19 vaccine will diminish. But Dr. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told Business Insider that he will not rely on antibody tests to determine when this happens.
“You don’t want to assume that you will have indefinite protection,” he said in the interview. He said that when this protective effect diminishes, intensified injections may be needed. These vaccines are essentially another dose of COVID-19 vaccine designed to “enhance” the immune response when the initial protective effect diminishes. Or, if there is a new coronavirus variant that cannot be prevented by current vaccines, booster injections may provide additional protection against that specific strain.
Dr. Fauci acknowledged that such tests are suitable for individuals, but do not recommend that people use them to determine when a booster of vaccine is needed. “If I go to LabCorp or one of the places and say,’I want to get the level of anti-spike antibodies,’ if I want to, I can tell what my level is,” he said in an interview. “I didn’t do it.”
Antibody tests like this work by looking for antibodies in your blood, which are your body’s response to COVID-19 or a vaccine. These tests can provide a convenient and useful signal that your blood contains a certain level of antibodies and therefore has a certain degree of protection against the virus.
But the results of these tests often do not provide enough information with sufficient certainty to be used as a shorthand for “protected” or “unprotected.” Antibodies are only an important part of the body’s response to the COVID-19 vaccine. And these tests cannot capture all the immune responses that actually mean protection from the virus. Ultimately, while antibody tests provide a (sometimes really useful) data, they should not be used alone as a sign of your immunity to COVID-19.
Dr. Fauci will not consider antibody testing, but will rely on two main signs to determine when extensive use of booster injections may be appropriate. The first sign will be an increase in the number of breakthrough infections among people vaccinated through clinical trials in early 2020. The second sign will be laboratory studies that show that the immune protection of the vaccinated people against the virus is declining.
Dr. Fauci said that if COVID-19 booster injections become necessary, we may obtain them from our usual healthcare providers on a standard schedule based on your age, underlying health and other vaccine schedules. “You don’t have to take blood tests for everyone [to determine when the booster injection is needed],” said Dr. Fauci.
However, for now, research shows that current vaccines are still very effective against coronavirus variants-even the highly transmitted delta variants. And this protection seems to last a long time (according to recent research, maybe even a few years). However, if a booster injection is necessary, it is comforting that you do not have to go through a separate blood test to determine whether a blood test is necessary.
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Post time: Jul-21-2021