Whilst the numbers of Omicron infections post vaccine booster dose are small (15 out of 541), it raises an important question about viral evasion. Vaccine boosters are associated with up to 10 times higher serum antibody levels and should in theory not be associated with infection.
When I first considered the primary endpoints of Covid-19 vaccine trials, as a layperson I could not understand why someone with immunology background or understanding of epidemiology would expect from intramuscular vaccine a prevention of airborne respiratory infection during pandemic. When it was proven even in laboratory that intramuscular Covid-19 vaccines induce significant amount of Abs in the upper respiratory tract, but with hardly noticeable neutralizing capacity and short half-life, then it was obvious that transmission blocking and infection prevention can’t be expected from intramuscular Covid-19 vaccines.
Provided that current vaccines do not induce bone marrow plasma cells, but induce short-lived plasma cells, that reside primarily in the nonlymphoid area of the spleen or lymph nodes and have a life span of several months, it can be expected that original antigenic sin may not be an issue even for the vaccinees, who do not continue boosting, use prophylactic antivirals and hold antihistamines, anticoagulants and corticosteroids at hand.
When I first considered the primary endpoints of Covid-19 vaccine trials, as a layperson I could not understand why someone with immunology background or understanding of epidemiology would expect from intramuscular vaccine a prevention of airborne respiratory infection during pandemic. When it was proven even in laboratory that intramuscular Covid-19 vaccines induce significant amount of Abs in the upper respiratory tract, but with hardly noticeable neutralizing capacity and short half-life, then it was obvious that transmission blocking and infection prevention can’t be expected from intramuscular Covid-19 vaccines.
Provided that current vaccines do not induce bone marrow plasma cells, but induce short-lived plasma cells, that reside primarily in the nonlymphoid area of the spleen or lymph nodes and have a life span of several months, it can be expected that original antigenic sin may not be an issue even for the vaccinees, who do not continue boosting, use prophylactic antivirals and hold antihistamines, anticoagulants and corticosteroids at hand.