All COVID-19 variants, including omicron, are resistant to vaccine-induced antibodies, meaning they are less responsive to the vaccine, as shown in a study published in the journal Vaccine. However, this resistance could be temporarily overcome with additional COVID-19 shots.
“Our data reflect the poor durability of vaccine-induced nAb (neutralizing antibody) responses,” the study authors wrote.Neutralizing antibodies are those the body makes to prevent the virus—in this case, SARS-CoV-2—from entering and infecting cells.
In the study, antibodies were collected from people who received three doses of the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines, including the two primary shots and an additional booster. Antibodies collected after the second and third doses were then observed to see how they fared against different COVID-19 variants. After the third dose, resistance to these vaccine-induced antibodies was slightly reduced.
Temporary Neutralizing Effects
Participants were given three doses of the monovalent COVID-19 mRNA vaccine, which contained the original Wuhan variant.
Participants were given three doses of the monovalent COVID-19 mRNA vaccine, which contained the original Wuhan variant.
Antibodies collected three weeks after the second and third doses had potent neutralizing effects against the original Wuhan COVID-19 variant.
However, these neutralizing antibodies rapidly declined. At four months after the second dose and six months after the third, neutralizing antibody levels had fallen back to prevaccination levels.
Furthermore, the other variants were significantly resistant to antibodies formed after the second and third shots, even at three weeks postvaccination, when the effects of the antibodies are considered the most potent. This means that, compared to the original Wuhan variant, vaccines would have less effect in preventing symptomatic infections against these subsequent variant infections.
The third dose, or booster, was given three to four months after the second mRNA vaccine dose, and its administration slightly reduced the virus’ resistance to the vaccine.
This is surprising, considering that the booster, along with the two mRNA shots given beforehand, were all the same. Despite this, there was a slight change in the virus’ resistance after the third dose.
Senior author of the study Alistair Ramsay, who has a doctorate in microbiology and is a professor of microbiology, immunology, and parasitology at Louisiana State University, told The Epoch Times in an email that the third dose may have improved antibody resistance by strengthening “vaccine-induced immune responses” against parts of the viral protein that was shared between the original strain and the different strains.
The omicron variant had the highest level of resistance.
IgG Class Switching After the 3rd Dose
After the third dose, previously negligible IgG4 and IgG2 antibodies increased significantly.
A rise in IgG4 levels has also been reported in other studies, warning of potential immune tolerance.
Boosting and Increased Risk of Infections
Studies published by the Cleveland Clinic and works out of Harvard University have shown that repeated boosting is related to an increased risk of COVID-19 infections.
Other researchers have stipulated that the increased IgG4 class switching with COVID-19 boosting may put a person at risk of infections from other diseases.
All vaccines have nonspecific effects, as shown in the works of Danish researchers Drs. Christine Stabell Benn and Peter Aaby. Nonspecific effects are effects that go beyond the specific protective effects the vaccines have against their targeted diseases.
For example, the COVID-19 vaccines prevent symptomatic COVID-19 infections; this is its specific effect. Its nonspecific effects are associated effects, such as increased or reduced mortality to other diseases.
Dr. Stabell Benn told The Epoch Times that all vaccines train immunity. While live vaccines train the body to become better at fighting off infections, non-live vaccines tend to make the immune system lazier.
Researchers from Louisiana State University followed 16 uninfected people for over 420 days and matched their antibodies to COVID-19 viruses, both prevaccination and postvaccination, at weekly and monthly intervals.
“We also expected that at some point, later variants (e.g., omicron) would differ so significantly from the pandemic strain that the neutralizing antibody activity generated by the original shots and booster would diminish. That is what we saw,” Mr. Ramsay wrote.
Immune tolerance occurs when the immune system becomes unresponsive to a particular to an antigen, or a particle that is causing disease. In the case of the study, this particle was the spike protein the body makes upon exposure to mRNA vaccines.
The authors also wrote that the induction of IgG4 class switching “may permit extended viral persistence” due to the downregulating effects it has.
In a study led by biologist Alberto Rubillo-Casillas from Autlán Regional Hospital in Mexico, Mr. Rubillo-Casillas argued that the COVID-19 vaccines can potentially induce negative “non-specific effects.”
Immune tolerance occurs when the immune system becomes unresponsive to a particular to an antigen, or a particle that is causing disease. In the case of the study, this particle was the spike protein the body makes upon exposure to mRNA vaccines.
The authors also wrote that the induction of IgG4 class switching “may permit extended viral persistence” due to the downregulating effects it has.
In a study led by biologist Alberto Rubillo-Casillas from Autlán Regional Hospital in Mexico, Mr. Rubillo-Casillas argued that the COVID-19 vaccines can potentially induce negative “non-specific effects.”
Typically, some live vaccines, such as the Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine, show beneficial nonspecific effects. This means that, apart from protecting a person against tuberculosis, the administration of the BCG vaccine is also linked to improved survival in the recipient. Non-live vaccines—which make up the majority of vaccines given now, including the COVID-19 vaccines—are often associated with negative nonspecific effects.
Marina Zhang is a health writer for The Epoch Times, based in New York. She mainly covers stories on COVID-19 and the healthcare system and has a bachelors in biomedicine from The University of Melbourne.
