{"id":3005,"date":"2021-12-15T08:56:46","date_gmt":"2021-12-15T08:56:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news25.org\/?p=3005"},"modified":"2021-12-15T08:56:49","modified_gmt":"2021-12-15T08:56:49","slug":"if-two-doses-arent-enough-why-do-boosters-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/if-two-doses-arent-enough-why-do-boosters-work\/","title":{"rendered":"If two doses aren’t enough, why do boosters work?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
The heavily mutated Omicron variant has led to a serious dent in the ability of vaccines to protect us from catching the Covid virus.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Two doses of some vaccines offer almost no protection from an Omicron infection, although they should still greatly reduce the risk of becoming so ill you need hospital care. The vaccines were all developed to fight the first form of the virus that emerged two years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So can a third or “booster” dose of those original vaccines make the difference, or has Omicron already outwitted the protection they can give? Fortunately for us, while the contents of the syringe may be identical, a booster is not just more of the same for the immune system. The protection you’re left with after the third dose is bigger, broader, and more memorable than you had before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fighting coronavirus is something your immune system has to learn. One option is to figure it out on the job when you encounter the virus for real. However, there is a risk of getting it wrong and ending up seriously ill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Vaccines are more like a school – a safer environment to further your immune system’s Covid education. The first dose is the primary school education that nails the fundamentals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your second and third doses are comparable to sending your immune system to secondary school and then university to dramatically deepen its understanding. It’s not just repeating primary school over and over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “The immune system is left with a richer knowledge and understanding of the virus,” said Prof Jonathan Ball, a virologist from the University of Nottingham.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He said for all the talk of the dastardly tricks of Omicron, a highly-trained immune system is “an incredibly difficult and hostile environment” for the virus and its variants.<\/p>\n\n\n\nCovid school<\/h2>\n\n\n\n