earl
Well-known member
@tiger5150 said in [Coronavirus Outbreak](/post/1504278) said:@earl said in [Coronavirus Outbreak](/post/1504268) said:@mike said in [Coronavirus Outbreak](/post/1504163) said:@eyeofthetiger-0 said in [Coronavirus Outbreak](/post/1504149) said:@cochise said in [Coronavirus Outbreak](/post/1504148) said:@eyeofthetiger-0 said in [Coronavirus Outbreak](/post/1504141) said:@nrlsurvivor said in [Coronavirus Outbreak](/post/1504138) said:@eyeofthetiger-0 said in [Coronavirus Outbreak](/post/1504120) said:@cochise said in [Coronavirus Outbreak](/post/1504105) said:@mike said in [Coronavirus Outbreak](/post/1504098) said:@eyeofthetiger-0 said in [Coronavirus Outbreak](/post/1504068) said:Is the booster shot mandatory?
For the majority not yet, but I think it’s a safe bet that sometime in the future it will be.
I don't think that is the plan.
@cochise if you catch COVID and beat it, NSW Health give you a 6 month exemption from getting the vaccine in writing. Does that mean then the vaccinated will have to get boosters every 6 months? Is getting COVID and having a natural immunity better than the vaccine and boosters?
The difference is negligible but getting vaccinated is better in reducing risk of death or long term illness… Better to think of a booster as the third dose. When the vaccine was originally released for emergency use we weren’t sure what dosage would be needed as it was too early to tell. Turns out we need 3 and in it is hoped that will be all that is needed for long term immunity. There are other vaccinations that require 3 doses which we receive in childhood (I think hep?). Most require 2. Covid needs 3.
For now. We don’t know if COVID will mutate again and evade the vaccines. Then we start again?
So let's not bother?
@cochise isn’t that what happens though? the virus mutates, the vaccines may become in effective and back to the drawing board. The only defence we have then is our immune system
Not quite. The mRNA vaccines can be produced pretty quickly now. All they need is the sequence for the new variant and they can modify to suite. I heard the CTO of Moderna say they can basically be set up for a new strain within 2 weeks. The hurdle will be the regulatory requirements.
I don't believe it's so easy to adjust the vaccine. I suppose alternatively there isn't much benefit. The reason I state this is that there hasn't been an updated vaccine yet. They are still using the initial vaccine. If it was so easy why not adjust it for Delta ?
The mRNA vaccine doesnt target the virus, it targets the spike protein on the virus. The mRNA vaccine tricks our native cells to produce the S1 spike protein from your own cells and then your immune system recognises the spike protein and will attack it if the COVID virus enters. All the variants of the COVID virus have the S1 spike protein.
So maybe it's not so easy to tweak the vaccine.