LETTER: Vaccines vs. natural immunity

In his Aug. 22 letter to the editor, Tom Montgomery asks why his natural immunity from having COVID before is not enough to protect him from future COVID. Five months ago, many doctors would have said natural immunity was enough.

Then came delta variant. Recent studies have shown that natural antibodies six months after a COVID infection are only 1 percent as effective as the antibodies in vaccinated people for the delta variant.

Existing blood antibodies are among the fastest-acting part of your adaptive immune system. But they are not the whole story. The above study did not assess the cellular response from B- and T-cells, which in theory will create a new, slightly varied set of antibodies to combat delta. The vaccines prime the B- and T-cells for this response.

We hope.