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[deleted] t1_j76hraa wrote

Reply to comment by BurrDurrMurrDurr in New evidence suggests that ‘hybrid’ immunity, the result of both vaccination and a bout of COVID-19, can provide partial protection against reinfection for at least eight months. Immunity acquired by booster vaccination alone seems to fade somewhat faster. by MistWeaver80

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BurrDurrMurrDurr t1_j76rxyt wrote

Oo that's a great question. That is hard to test since COVID exposure =/= COVID infection. COVID re-infection DOES effectively "reset" your antibody levels assuming you clear the virus after the 2nd infection. If I had to educated-guess this I would say at best, exposure within 7 months of cleared infection might sustain your antibody levels a little longer but again, if there are no memory B or LLPCs made, they will still wane.

After first infection your adaptive immune response generates B cells that make antibodies specifically for the virus. Those B cells and antibodies "stick around" for a while until they wane. Generally it seems your body has elevated and protective amounts of antibodies for at least 3 months after infection. Then they start to drop and GENERALLY after about 7-8 months. At this point a 2nd re-infection is not only possible but your body will react similarly to the first infection, although you should be able to clear it quicker.

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zholo t1_j76mllv wrote

This is a great question and I hope there is an immunologist here who can answer it. The follow up question would be then why are we not getting boosters every six months?

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priceQQ t1_j772hmv wrote

Partly why not X has to do with trial design early on. It’s harder to do large trials for different regimens. Most people believe the original two courses were too close together though.

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