What You Already Knew (?), The Waning of SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine – Induced Immunity

Checking my emails this morning and found this article as taken from MedPage Today listing the JAMA Network Open article.

The article was accepted for publication on March 13 of this year. It finally came to be published May 3, 2023. The study has all the credentials of a particular matter. The data coming from PubMed and Web of Science as well as the reference lists of eligible articles. Preprints are included. I did not include the credentials of the authors which can be found at the JAMA Network site.

Also, I did not use the Time article as I felt JAMA Network was a better source. I do not believe this is astounding news as taken from my own lifetime experiences. I visit the doctor or the local drugstore to receive new and hopefully better inoculation from various diseases, viruses, etc. I still run around with an up-to-date, yellow shot card due to my travels.

Evaluation of Waning of SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine–Induced Immunity: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis | Infectious Diseases | JAMA Network Open | JAMA Network, Francesco  Menegale, Mattia Manica, and Agnese  Zardini

AB: The following is broken out in a similar manner as the article.

Question:

How does the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines against laboratory-confirmed Omicron infection and symptomatic disease change at different times from last dose administration and number of doses, and how does this compare with previously circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants and subvariants?

Findings:  

This systematic review and meta-analysis of secondary data from “40 studies” found the estimated vaccine effectiveness against both laboratory-confirmed Omicron infection and symptomatic disease was lower than 20% at 6 months from the administration of the primary vaccination cycle and less than 30% at 9 months from the administration of a booster dose. Compared with the Delta variant, a more prominent and quicker waning of protection was found.

Meaning:  

These findings suggest that the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines against Omicron rapidly wanes over time.

AB: Nothing major here. The authors or their student assistants read 40 different studies out of 799 original articles and 149 reviews and found the studies reported “similar” results.

The importance of this was to establish “Estimates of the rate of waning of vaccine effectiveness (VE) against COVID-19 are key to assess population levels of protection and future needs for booster doses to face the resurgence of epidemic waves.” The acronym VE is stated numerous times, so plese note ts meaning.

Why is this so important?

“Pooled estimates of VE of a primary vaccination cycle against laboratory-confirmed Omicron infection and symptomatic disease were both lower than 20% at 6 months from last dose administration. Booster doses restored VE to levels comparable to those acquired soon after the administration of the primary cycle. However, 9 months after booster administration, VE against Omicron was lower than 30% against laboratory-confirmed infection and symptomatic disease.”

Establishing a timeline of vaccine effectiveness (VE) would be important during the pandemic so as to establish when boosters should be initiated.

What did we find out?

“The effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines against laboratory-confirmed Omicron or Delta infection and symptomatic disease rapidly wanes over time after the primary vaccination cycle and booster dose. These results can inform the design of appropriate targets and timing for future vaccination programs.”

That is pretty much all of it. You can read the rest at JAMA or get a plebian version at Time magazine. Everything appears to point to the initial inoculations and the boosters working to prevent Covid or a serious Covid infection.

COVID vaccines and antibodies, Angry Bear, Joel Eissenberg