Doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital have published data related to an ongoing test for antibodies in patients who recovered from severe cases of COVID19.
Related: New CDC Data Suggests Masks are Ineffective Against COVID19
[Dr. Richelle] Charles and her team got blood samples from 343 coronavirus patients, most with severe cases, and found that levels of an antibody called immunoglobulin G stayed elevated in the patients for four months and had neutralizing properties.
“That means that people are very likely protected for that period of time,” said Charles. “We showed that key antibody responses to COVID-19 do persist.”
That’s great news, though I am curious about the long term status. Vaccines’ claim to fame is that they mimic an infection to trick your body into creating antibodies that will protect you for years. If the actual virus is only creating antibodies in even the most vulnerable survivors for four months, what possible benefit might any vaccine be able to provide?
I’m not an anti-vaxxer.
As with all health-related issues, informed consent is critical, as is the right to decline treatment with which you are not comfortable. Be it moral, religious, or any other grounds. The state should not have the power to force people to embrace chemistry or treatment under any circumstances. It would be fascist to think otherwise. But vaccines have successfully eliminated past scourges or reduced them to a mere whimper, at least in western countries.
While there will always be risks, the benefits often outweigh them but not at the expense of individual rights.
And while I am not an epidemiologist nor do I play one on the internet, I read and share their research. The human body is an amazing thing. It is full of antibodies and constantly developing resistance to that with which we come into contact.
We also know that only a small group is at high risk from COVID19. That much of what continues to dominate the news is suspect. And that most of us have little or no risk from CARS CoV2. Less than many typical cases of flu.
Having said that, I’d be interested in even more data on other groups, particularly those who have contracted, been mildly symptomatic, and recovered quickly. They had a natural immune response that required little or no medical intervention.
There is no reason to immunize them, nor should they feel the need, but we already know there will be enormous political and public pressure to conform.
We should not oppose a treatment that could save those at risk, but we must oppose pressure politics used on people to accept any treatment with which they are uncomfortable especially when their risk is low.