In a study from Oregon Health & Science University, scientists found vaccine boosters and breakthrough infections following vaccination both provide a substantial and potentially pandemic-breaking immunity against COVID-19.
The study is the latest in a series of OHSU discoveries using blood samples to characterize the immune response to the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
In the study, the team measured a powerful immune response among samples from 99 OHSU employees who had blood drawn for the research.
Notably, they measured an equally potent immune response to the virus—with dramatic increases in magnitude, potency, and breadth—among people whose blood was drawn three months after a third vaccine booster dose and another group one month after a breakthrough infection.
In addition, the study found the immune response was just as powerful among people 65 and older.
The team says early in the pandemic, there was very high mortality in certain vulnerable groups, such as older adults in nursing homes, but that reality is slowly changing.
This study bolsters the idea that vaccination is a pathway to a milder illness.
Even if you’re older, your chances of having a severe illness if you’re re-infected down the line appear to be much lower than it was at the start of the pandemic.
The team says they would expect an even more robust immune response among people receiving the new bivalent vaccine booster targeting the BA.4 and BA.5 variants.
They anticipate that updated vaccine strategies with variant-specific regimens will significantly improve the breadth of the immune response and provide better protection against the SARS-CoV-2 variants.
In contrast to the onset of the pandemic, the SARS-CoV-2 virus is no longer “novel” to the human immune system.
Most people in the world have now been vaccinated, infected, or both—meaning the virus is running up against a much more effective immune response with each new infection.
The new study most likely reflects the fact that the virus is evolving to become more transmissible but less harmful.
If you care about COVID, please read studies about black fungus’ disease that is deadly and common in people with COVID-19, and your genes and blood type may help predict your risk of severe COVID-19.
For more information about COVID, please see recent studies about face masks that can capture and deactivate the COVID-19 virus, and results showing Flu, COVID-19, and related vaccines may increase heart disease risk.
The study was conducted by Marcel Curlin et al and published in the journal Med.
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