Vaccine protection waning

[FuckingFabulous]

I was sent a government antibody kit. I have had two AZ vaccines (before they said under 40s can't have) and I've had Covid, or at least I've had the GPs best guess at Covid, because I had what I thought was a horrible ear infection and throat infection in June, then got shingles and then I had positive lat flows for eight weeks. Dr said I must have had Covid in all that.

Anyway. Apparently I have no antibodies. I have been told that virus protection dwindles faster than flu jab protection does.

Is that true? Because there seem to be a lot of vaccinated people on Covid wards. Are these people who would have died without the vaccine or has the vaccine had no impact on the severity of their infection?

I think I'm just worrying because I live in an area where not only is the virus pretty much getting out of control, but the local population seems to have thrown its hands up and said "fuck it." I don't really feel that safe. We were deep in lockdown with numbers like these before.

The immune system is more than just antibodies, not having antibodies does not mean your body has not gained increased protection against Covid.

Someone with more knowledge will tell you the exact facts, but I believe immunity is more about T Cells and not just antibodies, which you also get from vaccines.

I don't know enough about immunity to not be slightly alarmed. About a decade ago, I worked for the NHS and I had to have several of my childhood vaccines repeated because I had no immunity, even though I'd had every booster, and even then the measles one had to be redone a couple of times before I had enough protection to be allowed to work with pregnant women. My own DC have also had illnesses that their routine vaccinations would ideally have prevented. Maybe it's something to do with my DNA. I did ask and got told "it's one of those things"

Is it possible I gained no immunity from my Covid vaccine

@FuckingFabulous

I don't know enough about immunity to not be slightly alarmed. About a decade ago, I worked for the NHS and I had to have several of my childhood vaccines repeated because I had no immunity, even though I'd had every booster, and even then the measles one had to be redone a couple of times before I had enough protection to be allowed to work with pregnant women. My own DC have also had illnesses that their routine vaccinations would ideally have prevented. Maybe it's something to do with my DNA. I did ask and got told "it's one of those things"

Is it possible I gained no immunity from my Covid vaccine

Some people have considerably weaker immune responses than others, it seems like you may be at the weaker end of the scale, however that does not mean you gained no immunity from the vaccine, but it is probably, especially based on that additional information that you have gained less immunity than the average person.

To reassure you, you will have gained some immunity otherwise you would already be dead. If you had no immunity your body would not be able to clear the infection and so even the mildest virus would have killed you in infancy, vaccines work in the same was as normal infections do.