It’s too early to say how long the Covid-19 vaccine will last – Dr Thompson

ALTHOUGH IT is still too early to say how long the protection given by Covid-19 vaccines will last, some studies show that protection given by the Covid-19 vaccine should last for many years.

A panel of experts on last Wednesday’s ‘Round Table Talk’, among the number of issues dealt with, tackled a question on whether Covid-19 vaccines will have to be taken annually.

“I don’t think so. Right now is too early to say,” Dr Jerrol Thompson, Advisor to the St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) Covid-19 Task Force and Infectious Diseases Specialist, stated in response to the frequently posed question.

“…I think that the studies have shown that the level of immunity that’s created by the vaccine, this vaccine should last many years. But I think we’ll be hard pressed to say definitively how many years it would last for…,” Thompson, who was one of the first to take a Covid-19 vaccine in SVG, informed.

“…There’s a possibility that if a mutant strain does come along, it may require a booster to be created to deal with that,” he continued, noting that the evidence is showing that it will last a long time.

Although he did not specifically mention which vaccine he was referring to, and the question from the member of the public did not specify, the previous discussion seemed to be focused on the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, the vaccine that SVG currently has on hand for inoculation of the populace.

The period of protection afforded by the different vaccines that exist in this world differ. In some cases it may be lifelong, while for other vaccines they require a booster after some time has passed.

However, the infectious disease specialist noted confidently, “Certainly it’s not going to be like the flu vaccine where you have to get one every single year.”

He added, “…we would have to wait and see. I wish we had a more definitive answer. That’s a very important question, a common question, but we don’t really have the full information yet.”

Historian Dr Garrey Michael Dennie said that he agreed that we would have to wait and see. He said that Covid-19 is a novel virus, “Well that novelty means that there’s lots of things that we would have to find out over time and that comes true as well with the vaccine.”

Some data is showing, according to Dennie, that 30 per cent of those infected with the virus are still experiencing various illnesses nine months after recovery. He contemplated that one does not know how long these illnesses will last, as they do not know how long the vaccine will.

While the virus itself is a gamble in many ways, “… With the vaccine you know for a certainty that if you get ill and the vast majority of people will not get ill, you’re not going to die,” he posited.

Dr Thompson backed up Dennie with this submission about persons experiencing symptoms after they have recovered. There was an initial impression that when one recovers they are recovered, and most will. However, “… We’re getting these larger data, we’re also realizing that yes the virus is initially infecting the back of your throat and your nose which has these receptors, but when it gets in to your immune system and your blood stream there are far greater concentrations of these receptors in your heart, in your blood vessels, in your kidneys, in your pancreas, in your intestine,” the doctor stated.

“…This notion that everybody recovers, it’s only a little flu – it is far more than that and you’re gonna see these prolonged: chronic fatigue, shortness of breath, headaches…” he said.