#Whatser mean full

Most of our B cells, or the antibodies they produce, wonвЂ™t actually react at all to SARS-CoV-2, or a vaccine that resembles it. Or theyвЂ™ll use the stems of their Ys to flag down other members of the immune system in a destructive assist.Д«ut thatвЂ™s the best-case scenario. Sometimes itвЂ™s a solo act: Antibodies alone can grab on so firmly that they block the virus from hacking into a cell, a process called neutralization. The better they are at glomming on, the better chance they have of waylaying the threat.

Their raison dвЂ™ГЄtre is to be clingy-the Y-shaped molecules hook their tips onto a specific hunk of SARS-CoV-2вЂ™s anatomy, and hang on for dear life. But many of these early antibodies are, as Bhattacharya told me, вЂњreally crappyвЂќ at their jobs. Read: What we actually know about waning immunity.ДЄ couple weeks after vaccination, a group of immune defenders called B cells starts to pump out antibodies en masse. Part of waning certainly does mean fewer. Like a block of wood being hewn into a sharper blade, vaccinated immune systems can hone their skills over time. The focus on antibody counts alone actually does a disservice to our understanding of immunity, experts told me. вЂњAntibody levels are declining, but something good is happening too: The immune response is evolving.вЂќ вЂњThatвЂ™s why I hate the word waning,вЂќ Jennifer Gommerman, an immunologist at the University of Toronto, told me. Months after vaccination, the average antibody found in the blood simply has higher defensive oomph. Still, even as our antibodies are dwindling in absolute quantity, these scrappy molecules are enhancing their quality, continuing to replace themselves with new versions that keep improving their ability to bring the virus to heel. вЂќ Antibodies are supposed to peter out thatвЂ™s why they always do. вЂњAll we hear about is titers,вЂќ says Stephanie Langel, an immunologist at Duke University.

But as Bhattacharya and others assured me, itвЂ™s really, really not. It all sounds, quite frankly, like a tragedy. The slump fits the narrative that countless reports have been sounding the alarm on for a while now: In the months after vaccination, our antibodies peace out, a trend thatвЂ™s often been described as a вЂњwaningвЂќ of immunity, and evidence that weвЂ™re all in dire need of boosters to shore our defenses back up. The drop hasnвЂ™t been precipitous, but itвЂ™s definitely happening-regular checkups have shown his antibody levels, also known as titers, ticking down, down, down, from spring through summer, now into fall. Since then, heвЂ™s been watching the number of coronavirus antibodies in his blood slowly but surely decline.

#Whatser mean full

In early March, Deepta Bhattacharya, an immunologist at the University of Arizona, celebrated a milestone: hitting the point of full vaccination, two weeks after getting his second Pfizer shot.