I've had it, so surely I'm immune

[dustyknickers]

Just that really, if I've had it and we are told you cant get it again then surely I'm immune and don't need the vaccine, this would then take a lot of people out of the equation and leave the vaccine for people who really need it. My daughter had covid the first time round, wasn't tested but subsequently had an antibody test which showed she had had it. She works front line, is constantly in contact with covid patients, is tested regularly and has never been positive again, so she must still be immune.

@bellagogosdead

Can anyone tell me what CEV in this context? Googling hasn't helped.

"Clinically Extremely Vulnerable"

(most CEV people shielded at the beginning of the pandemic)

I don't understand how there are so many people on Mumsnet who are getting it twice, or know someone who has had it twice, but the 'official' line still seems to be that there are very very few cases of reinfection worldwide?

Are the people who have got it twice going into some sort of research group, do you have to inform someone that you have had it twice?

It mutates... we'll all be getting it every year hence the annual need for a vaccine

You dont have to inform anyone- although I'm under the COVID recovery unit at the local hospital and my consultant knows. He's asked me to come in for further antibody tests at the end of Jan.

Honestly, it's been known officially for a while now that it's possible to be reinfected (the scientific paper where they sequenced the viral genome of first and subsequent infections to prove they were different) and the anacdata has been collecting for a while now that it happens. But it is hard to prove - how many of the first wave in the uk got a pcr test or an antibody test? Or there are places like Wuhan with a large first wave but no subsequent wave so no data there. But reports have been coming out if the US since the summer of people who tested positive in April and then again in August. At first it was put down to the same infection but now as the period between infections is growing larger and antibody testing is a thing the evidence is more suggestive of reinfection.

I guess this is the thing with a novel virus. We learn as we go along . Science has always worked like this - a theory in postulated based on the available evidence. It holds "true" for a while then eventually breaks down under the weight of new , contrary evidence and is reworked to fit what is know known - and then the process continues. It rarely works in absolutes.

@Bubblemonkey

Someone I work with was In icu at the start of this shitshow.. tested negative multiple times... to be reinfected in October...

Did they get sick again, or just have a positive test?

Surely it would make sense before administering vaccine to antibody test those who have/believe they have had covid though? Then if they test positive for antibodies they could shift further down the queue so that those without could be vaccinated earlier?

Friend's husband is on his second time round, mercifully nowhere near as ill this time round (was touch and go for hospital admission back in April).

But all the testing would take extra time and administration so its easier to just give them the injection and move to the next person

@sleepwhenidie

Surely it would make sense before administering vaccine to antibody test those who have/believe they have had covid though? Then if they test positive for antibodies they could shift further down the queue so that those without could be vaccinated earlier?

That's a very good idea in theory, but I guess it would take time and put another delay in the process. I am not a scientist, never have professed to be, but I genuinely thought that world wide it was considered that very few people catch it twice. I guess I was wrong. Like I say, I'm not well enough to go out at the moment, but even if I could I would always wear a mask and take the relevant precautions.

@dustyknickers and @dementedpixie yes I guess it would be an administrative burden too far...and we still aren’t clear on how long immunity lasts, so could drop off quite quickly from the point at which antibody test is positive

Surely it would make sense
our keystone cops govt doesn't operate on those sorts of principles
alas

Small study but v interesting, seems to point towards longer term immunity after infection than antibodies would suggest, similar to the theories about T cell immunity but in this case, plasma in bone marrow..www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-132821/v1

Someone I know had it in March and still has antibodies now - it varies

I and my colleagues work in a hospital where we see Covid positive patients. He has been taking part in an sit body study where I think they check every 2 weeks and he still has antibodies circulating (I don’t know if it tells you how much is circulating). As far as I’m aware, my colleagues that had antibodies previously have not been infected since touch wood.

I’m assuming that because we come into contact with the virus fairly frequently that our antibodies are still doing there thing. I have just had my first dose of vaccine though as I don’t want to take any chances!

I had German measles twice as a child, I still had the rubella vaccine when I was 12 as part of the then-routine vaccination programme.

My mum has tested positive for covid, she's still keen to get the vaccine.

Wow all these people having it twice or 3 times, I haven’t had it once or anyone in my family, it was rife at my daughter’s school accept for her year, son’s a teacher, spent time with positive cases but never caught it, i’ve been into London on the train and tube just before this lockdown, never caught it, I must be very very lucky.

My sister was ill in March. She and her youngest were so ill he was hospitalized. He was tested and it was positive. It left him with heart issues. He is 7 They didn't test her as she wasn't hospitalized but it's on her medical record.

Come fast forward to June and she gets it again. For her it's of a similar level of awfulness, for my nephew a bit better. He is well monitored because of previous issues. They both test positive. She is a Eyfs worker. Her entire school shut the second time. My nephew still can't run around without losing breath. No prior conditions.

@Baileysforchristmas

Wow all these people having it twice or 3 times, I haven’t had it once or anyone in my family, it was rife at my daughter’s school accept for her year, son’s a teacher, spent time with positive cases but never caught it, i’ve been into London on the train and tube just before this lockdown, never caught it, I must be very very lucky.

Or asymptomatic...

Who knows, it’s a strange illness, my son went to see his girlfriend in a shared house, she got it, everyone in the house got it, my son never caught it, tested twice while he was isolating for 10 days, both negative tests, girlfriend only 21 was quite poorly but didn’t go to hospital 🤷‍♀️

My best friend has had it twice. She works in a supermarket.

Vit d affects t cells

Who told you that you are now immune?
I had covid didn’t even know but was tested before my c section in June. Anyway I was told by the consultant there that I could catch it again especially after 12 weeks, so I should continue to follow the government guidelines.
I was lucky I didn’t have any symptoms first time, I wouldn’t want to risk catching it again because I could have a serious case the next time

Just to distinguish between immunity and resistance. There is no evidence so far that getting covid once means you will never ever get covid again. However by getting covid once and surviving as most sufferers do, logically means your body built up some resistance to it (unless of course your body was unable to fight it off in which case you died).

Until there is more information I think it's best to assume resistance that will gradually reduce over time.

In addition the "vaccination" is likely to work much like the annual flu jab and will not prevent you catching covid but will give you resistance meaning you are less likely to die from it. It is also likely that like the flu jab it will need to be topped up over time as resistance weakens and the virus mutates.

Lastly covid is never going to simply disappear we will just have less people dying from it. The 1968 Hong Kong Flu which killed more people worldwide (adjusted for population) than Covid is still in circulation today , it's just that many people have a natural resistance and it is also covered in the annual flu jab.

I would have thought if you are not immune or more pertinently at much lower risk of developing serious covid then that doesn't bode well for the long term efficacy of the vaccine.