How Long Will Protection From the Covid-19 Vaccine Really Last?
To coincide with the U.S. vaccine rollout, Elemental has published an extremely thorough guide to Covid-19 vaccines, answering every question we could think of. Elemental will continue to update and add to this FAQ as the rollout and FDA authorization process continues. If you would like to submit a question, leave a response at the end of the story. Here’s a peek at one of the questions inside.
Q: How long will protection from the vaccine last? Are we going to have to get the vaccine every year like the flu vaccine?
We won’t know how long a Covid-19 vaccine’s immunity lasts for a while — however long it takes to wear off in the first trial participants, at least. But [Saad] Omer [PhD, MBBS, director of the Yale Institute for Global Health, New Haven, Connecticut] said it’s not likely you’ll need it every year. While the virus does change, coronaviruses don’t change at the same high speed as flu viruses (which is the reason new flu vaccines are needed each fall). “It may be that we have to do repeat vaccinations and boosters for a while, but I’d be surprised if it’s an annual vaccine,” Omer said. Further, scientists already suspect immunity from Covid-19 infections might last years, and both mRNA vaccines led to higher antibody levels than seen in people who had recovered from Covid infections.
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