COVID Immunity May Last Years; AstraZeneca’s Vaccine Helps Seniors

Reuters: AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine Shows Promise In Elderly, Trial Results By Christmas
AstraZeneca and Oxford University’s potential COVID-19 vaccine produced a strong immune response in older adults, data published on Thursday showed, with researchers expecting to release late-stage trial results by Christmas. The data, reported in part last month but published in full in The Lancet medical journal on Thursday, suggest that those aged over 70, who are at higher risk of serious illness and death from COVID-19, could build robust immunity. (Kelland, 11/19)

Bloomberg: Oxford Study Confirms Astra Covid Shot’s Response in Elderly
The University of Oxford confirmed that the Covid-19 vaccine it’s developing with AstraZeneca Plc produced strong immune responses in older adults in an early study, with key findings from the last phase of tests expected in the coming weeks. The results, published Thursday in The Lancet medical journal, shed more light on preliminary data released in recent months showing the experimental shot generated an immune response in the elderly, who are at highest risk of severe illness. (Paton and Ring, 11/19)

The Guardian: Oxford Covid Vaccine Could Build Immunity In Older People – Study 
The study’s lead author, Prof Andrew Pollard, from the University of Oxford, said: “Immune responses from vaccines are often lessened in older adults because the immune system gradually deteriorates with age, which also leaves older adults more susceptible to infections. As a result, it is crucial that Covid-19 vaccines are tested in this group who are also a priority group for immunisation. ”Researchers say their findings are promising as they show that older people are having a similar immune response to younger adults. (11/19)

Also —

The New York Times: Immunity To The Coronavirus May Last Years, New Data Hint 
How long might immunity to the coronavirus last? Years, maybe even decades, according to a new study — the most hopeful answer yet to a question that has shadowed plans for widespread vaccination. Eight months after infection, most people who have recovered still have enough immune cells to fend off the virus and prevent illness, the new data show. A slow rate of decline in the short term suggests, happily, that these cells may persist in the body for a very, very long time to come. (Mandavilli, 11/17)

San Francisco Chronicle: Does COVID-19 Result In Lasting Immunity? Growing Evidence Says Yes
A team of researchers from California and New York have found that people infected with the coronavirus may develop lasting immunity, an encouraging discovery for vaccine developers jolted by previous studies indicating human antibodies die out over time. The study, which has not been peer-reviewed nor published in a scientific journal, found that enough immune cells remain in the body to fight off COVID-19 for up to eight months after the initial infection. Scientists say there are signs these virus-fighting capabilities will last for a long time. (Fimrite, 11/18)

And some begin asking the big question —

Voice Of America: Vaccines Alone Won't End Pandemic, WHO Official Says 
The World Health Organization's emergencies program director said Wednesday that vaccines alone would not end the COVID-19 pandemic and would do nothing to stop the current global surge in coronavirus infections. Mike Ryan made the comments during a virtual question-and-answer session from the agency’s headquarters in Geneva. His comments came the same day that pharmaceutical company Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech announced that final results from the late-stage trial of their COVID-19 vaccine showed it was 95% effective. (11/18)

The Atlantic: With Vaccines, The End Of The COVID-19 Pandemic Is In Sight 
The tasks that lie ahead—manufacturing vaccines at scale, distributing them via a cold or even ultracold chain, and persuading wary Americans to take them—are not trivial, but they are all within the realm of human knowledge. The most tenuous moment is over: The scientific uncertainty at the heart of COVID-19 vaccines is resolved. Vaccines work. And for that, we can breathe a collective sigh of relief. “It makes it now clear that vaccines will be our way out of this pandemic,” says Kanta Subbarao, a virologist at the Doherty Institute, who has studied emerging viruses. (Zhang, 11/18)