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by starfallg 1834 days ago
A 2-dose vaccination regime (separated by 8-12 weeks) also gives our immune system time to build up the spike protein. An actual infection doesn't last as long and hence our immune system doesn't process it in the same way.
1 comments
josephcsible 1834 days ago
> separated by 8-12 weeks

Who's doing that? Isn't the separation 3 weeks for Pfizer and 4 for Moderna?

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mlyle 1834 days ago
Canada/the UK have been doing that.

Odds are it does make things more effective rather than less, based on our experience with other vaccines. But IMO it's not wise, because it wasn't studied.

Still, 2 huge peaks separated by 3-4 weeks provokes really big immune responses.

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BeefWellington 1834 days ago
> Odds are it does make things more effective rather than less, based on our experience with other vaccines. But IMO it's not wise, because it wasn't studied.

It has since been studied[1] (preprint) and that was exactly what was found -- delaying the second dose provoked a stronger response, similar to many other vaccines.

[1] https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/latest/2021/05/covid-pfize...

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mlyle 1833 days ago
Sure, so far preliminary data looks OK. I still don't think it was a wonderful roll of the dice-- it didn't lower susceptibility so much in the short term (because a single dose's efficacy is limited, especially in the old) and it could have made things much worse.
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