You may be among the more than 95 million people in the United States who have taken at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine. Or you may still be awaiting your turn. Regardless, there’s a crucial question on most of our minds: How long will the vaccine really protect us?
As with most aspects of the virus, the answer is not completely clear. Why? Because although we have been battling the pandemic for more than a year, the vaccines were granted emergency use authorization relatively recently. So experts have not had time to observe their long-term effectiveness.
However, that research is underway, and in the meantime, experts say we can make an educated guess.
How long will vaccine immunity last?
Federal health authorities have not provided a definitive answer to this question.
But based on clinical trials, experts do know that vaccine-induced protection should last a minimum of about three months. That does not mean protective immunity will expire after 90 days; that was simply the time frame participants were studied in the initial Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson trials. As researchers continue to study the vaccines, that shelf life is expected to grow.
In the real world, the protection should last quite a bit longer, though the length of time still needs to be determined with further studies, experts said.
Your questions about coronavirus vaccines, answered
There are also certain factors that may influence how much protection they provide and for how long.
Chunhuei Chi, director of the Center for Global Health at Oregon State University, said immune responses vary from person to person. People who have a stronger immune response to a vaccine will produce more antibodies and memory cells — and therefore have stronger immunity, he said. But there is not currently evidence to show that a stronger immune response will increase the duration of immunity.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2021/03/29/how-long-immunity-lasts-covid-vaccine/
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