COVID, Quickly is a Scientific American podcast series.
This is a quick update on the COVID Pandemic. We will show you the science behind the questions about the disease and the virus. We help you understand the research.
I'm Tanya Lewis.
Josh Fischman is the person.
Scientific American's senior health editors will talk about how vaccines boost immunity.
Even though COVID is still around, how to handle going back to the office.
---
Many unvaccinated people believe that they are protected against getting it again if they got it once. That is not true. Can you explain?
The idea of natural immunity is something you are talking about. That isn't the best protection you can get. What seems to be better is something called hybrid immunity, which is a natural infection plus a full course of vaccines. There are three recent studies that support this idea.
A previous infection can help. The paper looked at people in Sweden who had been exposed to an infectious disease. They had a lower risk of another infection than people who hadn't been vaccinations.
It gets interesting here. It improved protection by 50 percent if you add vaccine on top of it. It kept the protection strong for another six months.
A long-term study in England tracked people for more than a year. It was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. 80 percent of second infections were prevented by early infection. That is pretty good. Adding vaccines improved that protection to nearly 100 percent.
A study in Brazil found that people who got 2 doses of vaccine after being exposed to infections avoided 65 percent of new infections and 80 percent of severe COVID cases. Adding vaccines does a lot more than just infection.
The issue of Omicron is brought up. I wonder if the original Omicron, BA.1, prevents you from getting the sub-variant that's circulating now?
That is a great question. If you were exposed to BA.1, then you are probably protected from re-infection. The protection may not be complete.
South Africa hasn't seen a big BA.2 peak yet. The U.K. saw a peak in BA.2 infections several months later after a big surge in BA.1 infections. It could be that people who avoided getting sick in the previous wave could get sick again.
We are already seeing an increase in infections in parts of the U.S. It's not clear whether that will lead to another surge or just a small boost. Many people will have immunity from both vaccine and infections.
---
The company just announced the reopening of the office. Everyone is expected to show up. I'm not comfortable with crowds. Are you?
Lewis is not especially. I have avoided most indoor places except for the grocery store and wear an N95 or KN95 mask whenever I am indoors. I'm a little nervous about the idea of going back to the office regularly.
Is it possible that you are vaccine and boosted, though?
Lewis doesn't worry about getting very sick. I worry that the virus will be spread to people who are more vulnerable. I visit a family member with an illness often. There is a risk of long carbon dioxide. I will probably go into the office a couple days a week and just wear my N95. What about you?
I'm with you on the masks. People who work in retail, grocery stores and restaurants wear them because they deal with a lot of different people. I will do that as well.
I want to keep an eye on the community. You can use the CDC's tracker for this. It looks at both new cases and hospitalizations by country, and uses those to describe areas as low, medium, or high spread.
How will you use that information?
I'm going to use a mask more often if my area goes into medium or high. It is odd to see that cases are rising and then hopping on a crowded train to go to a crowded office. Isn't it?
It is unnerving. I don't want to get it if I can help it, even though I have a low risk of getting ill with it. Josh, does the CDC tracker miss some important information?
Fischman is correct. The tracker is too wishy-washy about when to wear a mask.
Lewis: Correct. Manhattan is considered a medium risk by the CDC. I will keep using my precautions. I will keep my distance from people on the train and avoid crowded areas of the office if possible.
What do you think about our place? Does it have good air flow?
The office doesn't have windows, but it does have a good MERV system. Even with the precautions, there is still some risk, and you can feel a little anxious.
The anxiety is okay. The virus has killed 1 million Americans in the last two years. We are in a world filled with spikes and dips. We know a lot more about how to stay safe. If we act on that knowledge, we might start to feel more comfortable.
---
Lewis: Now you are up to speed. Our show is edited by a woman.
Come back in two weeks for the next episode. You can find updated and in-depth COVID news atSciAm.com.
The above text is a transcript.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
