The Covid-19 vaccines are intended to contain the corona pandemic. But how long do the vaccines actually work? And is a booster vaccination necessary? Learn more here.
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How do the vaccines work?
The corona vaccinations are the way out of the pandemic. The effectiveness of the vaccines from pharmaceutical companies such as BioNTech and Pfizer or Moderna are over 90 percent. The vaccines of both companies are so-called RNA vaccines, which belong to the genetic vaccines. A protein is made in the body from ribonucleic acid (RNA or RNA) that triggers an immune response.
AstraZeneca ‘s mRNA vaccine is based on adenoviruses (common cold viruses). The genome of the vector was modified so that it contains the gene with the blueprint for the production of a surface protein of the SARS coronavirus 2. The vector-based vaccine is about 76 percent effective. Even if the vaccines do not offer 100% protection against corona viruses, they protect against a severe course of the disease.
How long do the vaccines work?
Since there are no long-term studies yet, the duration of immunity is unclear.
As with other new vaccines, there is currently no data for the COVID-19 vaccines as to whether and, if so, at what time interval a booster vaccination will be necessary.
announced the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) online. There is also no data yet on whether a booster with another type of vaccine is “beneficial”.
From an immunological point of view – according to the current state of knowledge – there is nothing to prevent you from being vaccinated with another COVID-19 vaccine at a later date, whether to refresh a vaccination protection that is decreasing over time or to supplement an existing, but possibly limited vaccination protection (e.g due to new virus variants) still to be improved.
Britain plans booster vaccinations in September
Previous studies have currently lasted several months. However, it is unlikely that vaccine immunity will last indefinitely. Experts tend to assume that the Covid 19 vaccination, like a flu vaccination , has to be refreshed regularly. While the vaccine distribution against the corona virus in Germany is rather slow, Great Britain is preparing for booster vaccinations in September, which are aimed primarily at over 70-year-olds and people with high health risks. Medical staff and nurses should also get their third dose within ten months.
Recently published studies give hope
The La Jolla Institute of Immunology in California reports a study in which infected people, five months after the onset of symptoms, were able to detect both antibodies and T cells – both responsible for immunity. The study has so far only been published as a preprint and has not yet been reviewed by independent experts.
According to another study, T cells should also be detectable six months after a Covid 19 infection. This is promising news for Fiona Watt, Executive Chair of the UK Medical Research Council. She comments in an article in THE BMJ journal: “If natural infection with the virus can elicit a robust T-cell response, it potentially means that a vaccine could do the same.”
According to the immunologist Carsten Watzl from the Leibniz Institute for Work Research at the Technical University of Dortmund, other corona viruses that cause normal colds usually have immunity for one to one and a half years before you can be infected again. However, the immune response to a vaccination is significantly stronger. He says: “So the hope is that the immunity from the vaccine candidates will last much longer.”
