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<\/p>\nThe antibodies triggered by covid-19 vaccines are interfering with people\u2019s immune systems as newer virus variants emerge, Dr. Harvey Risch said.<\/p>\n
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The two most widely-used vaccines in the United States, produced by Pfizer and Moderna, both work by sending messenger RNA into muscle cells, where they produce a piece of the spike protein from the virus that causes covid-19.<\/p>\n
The spike protein triggers the production of antibodies, which are believed to help prevent infection by SARS-CoV-2, which causes covid-19, and fight illness if one still gets infected.<\/p>\n
But the vaccines are based on the spike protein from the original virus variant, which was displaced early in the pandemic. Since then, a series of newer strains have become dominant around the world, with the latest being BA.5.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe vaccines only make a very narrow range of antibodies to the spike protein<\/em>,\u201d compared to the broader exposure experienced when one gets infected, Risch, an epidemiology professor at the Yale School of Public Health, told EpochTV<\/em>\u2019s \u201cAmerican Thought Leaders<\/em><\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe problem with that is, of course, that when the spike protein changes because of new strains of the virus, that the ability of the immune system to make antibodies that correlate to the new strains becomes reduced to the point where it may be almost ineffective over longer periods of time<\/em>,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n That leads to the antibodies being triggered by the vaccines not binding strongly enough to neutralize.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat that means is they become interfering antibodies, instead of neutralizing antibodies<\/em>,\u201d Risch said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s the reason I believe that we\u2019ve seen what\u2019s called negative benefit\u2014negative vaccine efficacy over longer time\u2014over four to six to eight months after the last vaccine dose, that one sees the benefit of the vaccines turn negative.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n Worse Effectiveness Amid Spike Protein Changes<\/strong><\/p>\n A number of recent studies have<\/a> indicated<\/a> that people who were vaccinated are more likely to get infected with covid-19 after a period of time, including Pfizer\u2019s clinical trial in young children (pdf<\/a>). Some real-world data also show higher rates of infection among the vaccinated. Other research indicates vaccines still provide some protection as time wears on after getting a shot, but the protection does wane considerably. The research all deals with the Omicron variant, which became dominant in late 2021, and its subvariants.<\/p>\n There were relatively few changes to the spike protein as the initial variants emerged, which meant that vaccines still provided a fairly good benefit, Risch said. But Omicron started off with more than 50 changes to the spike protein, and subvariants of Omicron such as BA.5 have added more.<\/p>\n