When will the booster vaccination for recovered people follow?
The reason for a booster vaccination for convalescents is better protection against virus variants.
Recovered: High antibody level after second vaccination
In order to protect both those who have been fully vaccinated and those who have recovered from a breakthrough infection with virus variants, experts assume that a vaccination booster is necessary. Scientists from the University of Nottingham examined the antibody levels of recovered people after a second vaccination with the vaccine from BioNTech/Pfizer. The result: A second dose leads to an increased neutralizing antibody response against the beta and gemma virus variants.
Overall, the scientists analyzed antibodies from 45 people who had both already received two vaccinations with the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine. All of the test subjects were healthcare workers – 20 people had already been infected with COVID-19 , and 25 others had no disease detected. The study suggests that the booster vaccine may be beneficial in enhancing immune responses against future SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern.
The results provide an incentive to carry out a booster vaccination in the coming months in both fully vaccinated and recovered people in order to achieve a high level of protection against virus variants.
Although the small number of subjects provides initial indications, further studies on booster vaccination against virus variants, especially against the predominant Delta variant, should follow.
A second vaccination could be useful and follow, especially for those who have recovered with immunodeficiency.