President Biden’s almost immediate COVID rebound hardly caused a ripple in the pond. It was as if Americans collectively shrugged shoulders and remarked ‘that’s no big deal’. CBS Sacramento posted August 2, 2022 how a growing number of Californians are having reinfections. Are repeats typical coronavirus behavior, in other words business as usual?
Yes, Repeats Are Typical Coronavirus Behavior
CBS Sacramento chatted with University of California’s infectious disease expert Dr. Phillip Norris about this. We hear a lot about reinfections they explained. Can these happen to us within a month, why do folk with vaccine boosters appear to be at greater risk of repeats?
They discovered reinfections are different from rebounds as was the case with the president. That’s because rebounds associate with rare side effects of COVID drug Paxlovid, and are a recurrence of symptoms within a few days. Whereas repeats affect some people who previously had an unrelated COVID infection.
Norris expressed no surprise California data indicates one in seven Californians with COVID last month had new infections. “Well this is typical coronavirus behavior” he advised.
“We’re always going to have new variants,” he continued “just like we do with influenza. So every year you get a flu vaccination because the strains are a little bit different. It’s the same thing with this coronavirus now.”
But There’s Usually a New Variant Behind Repeats
However, Norris expanded on this by explaining we have great antibodies in place immediately after vaccination or infection. This is why reinfections are likely to involve a new variant capable of evading those immunities. That explains the situation, but why are boosted people more likely?
The reason is partly because booster immunity wanes over time, and the data does not indicate the time frame. And moreover, people with vaccines and natural immunity have ‘super protection’. But the bottom line is any antibodies are better than none, and so it’s wise to continue with boosters.
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