Years ago there was no mumps vaccine. So when a kid came down with mumps, mothers took young boys to the patient’s house to play. They wanted their sons to get mumps when they were young, rather than when they were mature and risk infertility. It worked. Second cases of mumps were quite rare, and occurred mainly in men with impaired immunity.
But now small boys get the mumps vaccine. And every year there are outbreaks of mumps in college dorms, fraternity houses, and military barracks. The vaccine is protective, but not as protective as having had mumps.
There is no reason to believe that the same is not true for Covid-19. People who test positive for antibodies have had the disease, even if they were not aware of it. There is evidence that the incidence of side effects is higher when the vaccine is given to those who already had the disease. Yes, the vaccine raises the antibody level even higher, but is this helpful or harmful?
In other words, if a certain level of antibody is protective, is a higher level more protective, or more likely to be associated with harmful side effects?
Giving a medicine to those who probably won’t benefit from it, but who have an increased chance of being harmed by it, is unethical. Yes, I am aware that word is rarely used anymore. But it should be. Hippocrates would agree.
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