Trying to set aside my disdain for the vaccine mandates, I'm having a hard time wading through why anyone should get a booster. The primary reason for the vaccine is to avoid serious illness. What is the reason for the booster? My ape brain tells me that the vaccine is effective in teaching the immune system how to not freak from a covid infection so taking the natural immunity route from here on out should be less risky.

What am I missing?

Well booster has been reported to boost the immune response back up to post second vaccine levels. Since you can still get Covid your risk is still getting Covid, however it seems that you would have a very low risk serious illness or hospitalization.

If you didn't have any adverse reactions to the first round then I guess your booster would pose very little risk.

Philip J Fry said:

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So the booster is more about the convenience of not getting sick and less about ending up in the hospital?

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That and not contributing to positive test numbers. Boosters raise antibody titer, and antibody titer declines over time. The idea here is that if the antibody titer is high enough then it should compensate for the lack of specificity to the variant's mutations. Almost every one of the studies out there about vaccine efficacy to omicron, is basically just testing antibody titer in serum. Why anyone is acting surprised about the results is a complete mystery to me.

To date, I've read just one study that actually looked at T cell response to omicron in PBMCs from vaccinated or prior infections and it was fine. Immune system still works, biology still works. If you're not already at huge risk, you might get some sniffles but are nearly certain to be fine.

I didn't have the booster and I've been fairly sick for the last 7 days with COVID. I likely won't be hospitalized at this point unless something really goes south, but if I could have knocked this back to a day or two it would have been worth it. I can only function for a few hours before I have to take a nap and that's an improvement from where I was a few days ago.

You get the covid booster for the same reason you get a tetanus booster every ten years

In my opinion the risks/benefits of a booster far outweigh the risks/benefits of catching covid. At least for the vast majority of people. Even if the benefit is simply not losing your sense of taste, or just not feeling like crap on a day like Christmas or New Years.

Sorry. You're comparing tetanus with Covid?

Philip J Fry said:

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Sorry. You're comparing tetanus with Covid?

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The type of disease is irrelevant. You get boosters to stimulate and maintain an immune response. The severity of disease is a separate topic.

Salute The Marines said:

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Philip J Fry said:

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Sorry. You're comparing tetanus with Covid?

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The type of disease is irrelevant. You get boosters to stimulate and maintain an immune response. The severity of disease is a separate topic.

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The severity of disease is absolutely relevant, particularly since most data up to this point show that the 2 shot regimen is still extremely effective at preventing severe disease, even against Omicron, for a significant portion of the population.

The cost/benefit of the booster probably makes sense for older individuals, those who are immunocomprimised, or those at a higher risk of severe disease (i.e. the original FDA/CDC Advisory Committee recs), but it's entirely plausible that the 22 year college senior, who is in good health and has already received 2 mRNA shots, will receive marginal to no benefit from a booster.

And Tetanus vaccine actually prevents you from getting Tetanus.
Like Measles vaccine
Like HPV vaccine
Like the Flu vaccine is designed to do
etc.

I'm not sure whether to call for a wellness check, highlight a hacked account, or if F84 just froze over!

CowtownEng said:

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Salute The Marines said:

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Philip J Fry said:

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Sorry. You're comparing tetanus with Covid?

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The type of disease is irrelevant. You get boosters to stimulate and maintain an immune response. The severity of disease is a separate topic.

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The severity of disease is absolutely relevant, particularly since most data up to this point show that the 2 shot regimen is still extremely effective at preventing severe disease, even against Omicron, for a significant portion of the population.

The cost/benefit of the booster probably makes sense for older individuals, those who are immunocomprimised, or those at a higher risk of severe disease (i.e. the original FDA/CDC Advisory Committee recs), but it's entirely plausible that the 22 year college senior, who is in good health and has already received 2 mRNA shots, will receive marginal to no benefit from a booster.

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This statement is correct, very well said.

I am unboosted and currently have no plans of getting one. I am at moderate risk (BMI 32 and dropping, age 49 otherwise healthy) of severe disease but I have good titers still from my moderna 2nd shot nearly a year ago. I may consider an omicron specific booster if/when they are released.

I think a booster makes sense for high risk people, but for lower risk it just appears to be unnecessary. Especially since it does not seem to be helping much for stopping the spread of Omicron from a population health stand-point.

Doc, really appreciate you continuing to post on this board despite the insanity. Yours is a voice of reason and knowledge.

Jabin said:

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Doc, really appreciate you continuing to post on this board despite the insanity. Yours is a voice of reason and knowledge.

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Very appreciative as well!