Yeah but for how long? Unless Australia is willing to keep screening all arrivals and containing outbreaks indefinitely, Covid is gonna start circulating there at some point.
Require proof of vaccine to come to Austraila. Native population mostly vaccinated. Even if someone did manage to get in with covid, it might not spread particularly easily.
Sure covid will probably continue to exist, just like H1N1 exists
> Sure covid will probably continue to exist, just like H1N1 exists
Flu immunity only lasts 6 months.
COVID immunity seems to already be longer than Flu / H1N1 immunity.
Now if COVID immunity is only 1-year or 2-years, then yes, it will flare up over time. But if COVID immunity is like 5 years or 10 years, then we can pretty much forget-about-it after the vaccine.
No one knows how long the immunity is, aside from lasting longer than any test so far.
We still haven't eradicated measles despite a vaccine giving lifelong immunity so I suspect covid won't be eradicated any time soon. It won't be a problem for the vast majority of people either though
What do you mean flu immunity only lasts 6mo? As I understand it, flu vaccines are done yearly due to mutations rendering the vaccine impotent for the next strain. However, it seems like you're implying that the vaccine "wears off" or something.
> However, getting vaccinated early (for example, in July or August) is likely to be associated with reduced protection against flu infection later in the flu season, particularly among older adults
August / July is too early, people's flu immunity wears off before the end of the season. This is well known.
> Why do I need a flu vaccine every year?
A flu vaccine is needed every season for two reasons. First, a person’s immune protection from vaccination declines over time, so an annual vaccine is needed for optimal protection. Second, because flu viruses are constantly changing, flu vaccines may be updated from one season to the next to protect against the viruses that research suggests may be most common during the upcoming flu season. For the best protection, everyone 6 months and older should get vaccinated annually.
Yeah, you're not wrong, but neither am I. Both effects happen. The flu has unusually short immunity in humans: most diseases have an immunity that lasts longer than that.
A big worry about COVID19 was the length of immunity. As a novel disease, no one knew how long human immunity would last. Fortunately, it seems to be for a long time (more than 8 months, which is the length of time these studies have been going). As such, we know COVID19 immunity is "longer than the flu", already.
Australia is also not even letting citizens leave the country without special permission. I don't see them loosening up until there's actual herd immunity via vaccination in the country.
They could make proof of vaccination an entry requirement. Combine that with widespread domestic vaccination and you've got a very good chance of containing any infections that make it into the country.
vaccination doesn't mean you cannot get the virus and spread it around. it protects you from the effects of Covid-19, the disease, caused by your body's reaction to the virus.
Those vaccinated, because they have less symptoms, less coughing basically, might not spread it around as much, but we don't know that yet. Remember asymptomatic spreading is a big concern for this virus.
You're right that the recent efficacy studies of the COVID vaccines only demonstrated protection from the disease. That doesn't mean that they do not prevent spreading the disease, only that we don't know whether they do. Presumably the reason for this choice of endpoint is that we can detect sickness, but we can't reliably detect transmission.
If I may pick another nit, it's not asymptomatic but presymptomatic that seem to be the major concern, from what I've heard: that is, people who spread the disease will eventually show symptoms (usually within a day or two). The balance of evidence seems to suggest that people with viral loads that never get high enough to cause illness are probably not enough to cause a significant number of transmissions, but we will have to wait for widespread vaccination to confirm it.
This is getting downvotes, but it is at least somewhat correct.
> it protects you from the effects of Covid-19, the disease, caused by your body's reaction to the virus.
There isn't really evidence either way for this. To quote Nature[1]:
"Tests on more than 43,000 people have shown that the Pfizer vaccine is 95% effective at preventing disease"
> vaccination doesn't mean you cannot get the virus and spread it around.
This might be true:
"But none has demonstrated that it prevents infection altogether, or reduces the spread of the virus in a population. This leaves open the chance that those who are vaccinated could remain susceptible to asymptomatic infection — and could transmit that infection to others who remain vulnerable. “In the worst-case scenario, you have people walking around feeling fine, but shedding virus everywhere"
How can the vaccine prevent entry of the virus in cells, yet the virus can still replicate? I can’t understand why they state we don’t know, because of how I image viruses and vaccination works. Can someone help me understand this paradox?
Here's a nice video on the immune system that might help you out. Their other videos on the immune system, the complement system, and viruses might also be helpful. Not the most technical deep dives, but good, abstracted explanations.
In short, I don't think the vaccine prevents entry of the virus into the cells. That still happens, as it's a mechanical protein interaction (as far as I know). However, the vaccine (mRNA ones at least) work by producing the protein on the outside of the virus and putting that in your system, so your immune system learns how to respond. At least that's my mile-high interpretation.
Sure covid will probably continue to exist, just like H1N1 exists