Immunity to the coronavirus may persist for years, what it could mean for vaccination efforts
Dr. Adrian Burrowes, Family Medicine Physician &CFP Physicians Group CEO, joined Yahoo Finance to discuss the latest on covid-19.
Video Transcript
ADAM SHAPIRO: So there was some encouraging news today when it comes to COVID-19 for people who were infected with the virus and recovered from that infection. It looks as if their immunity may be much longer than had first been thought. Let's bring in Dr. Adrian Burrowes, family medicine physician and CFP Physicians Group CEO, to discuss the implications of this. And for those people who have vaccines, should they hope to get the infection perhaps on a minimal basis to boost their immunity? Dr. Burrowes, let me start with that. What do we know about this study?
ADRIAN BURROWES: So the studies are very encouraging. So basically what they're saying is that if you had a case of COVID-19 and then you were vaccinated, you potentially have immunity for at least a year and possibly longer. They're arguing that maybe even a lifetime of immunity.
Now this doesn't apply to people who were just vaccinated. They still think people who were just vaccinated and had not had a prior episode of COVID-19, they'll probably still need a booster going forward. They also are trying to question whether people who may not have had a really severe case, if that also correlates, that maybe they'll also need an additional vaccine going forward. But for people who were hesitant about getting the vaccine, it seems like that might be the thing to do.
SEANA SMITH: Doctor, I have a question for you because I think there's lots of uncertainty out there, just why some people react to the virus one way, and other people don't. So, for example, why some people have such a robust immune response to the virus while others don't have any antibodies after, say, just a couple of weeks. Can you give us any insight as to why this is the case?
ADRIAN BURROWES: Sure, and that's a common question that I experience as well. So I tell people that different people respond differently. Younger people, people without a lot of medical issues, tend to respond with a fairly vigorous immune response. And that's usually the response that we're referencing when we're talking about this year long or, potentially, a lifelong immunity. Other people who have medications for, like, diabetes and things like that, COPD, they may be on immunosuppressive medications, where their body may not generate an immune response like that. Or some people are just born with a lesser immune response, and they don't have that robust response that you were just referencing.
ADAM SHAPIRO: Let's turn our attention to the other news about the FDA giving emergency use authorization to the COVID-19 antibody drug developed by GlaxoSmithKline and its partner. Has the effort to come up with treatments for COVID-19 also continued? We always focus on the vaccines.
ADRIAN BURROWES: Yes, absolutely. Pfizer has worked on an antibody. And as you said, GlaxoSmithKline just did the same thing. And the great thing about the GlaxoSmithKline is that that antibody treatment is for mild to moderate cases. So these are people that I can treat in my office. It's not meant for hospitalized patients. So for people who develop COVID symptoms and test positive, we can treat them with that as an outpatient.
SEANA SMITH: And doctor, you're based in Casselberry, Florida, so just give us a inside look just on what you're seeing just in terms of the number of cases and how that compared to three or, say, even six months ago.
ADRIAN BURROWES: Great. Great question. So I not only have an outpatient practice right outside of Orlando, but I also do work in nursing homes. And in December-- I'll give you December as my reference point. December, I was seeing between 25 and 30 COVID positive patients a day. My nursing home population was a priority population. And so they received the vaccines pretty much early January, early February. And since February, I think I've had one patient total from February to now that has tested positive for COVID-19. So the vaccines have proven highly effective. And I have not been seeing very many cases.
ADAM SHAPIRO: Doctor, that is encouraging news. Dr. Adrian Burrowes, family medicine physician and CFP Physicians Group CEO, thank you for joining us here on Yahoo Finance Live.
