Merlin1300 Loc: New England, But Now & Forever SoTX

No. Your circulating Mumps Antibody level slowly declines with time. Although you MAY still have a T-Cell response to Measles, Mumps, and Rubella, sufficient to recreate the antibodies needed to prevent you from getting any of those, that is not what this is about. The important factor is your actual Mumps Antibody Titer - which Covid will not stimulate - - the mumps antibodies must already be present at a high enough level in your system to interact with any Covid that gains entry to you. Those levels slowly fade away over about ? 14 years from the time you were last vaccinated with MMR-II (or had the disease).

tomad Loc: North Carolina

There are still a lot of questions about the Astra Zeneca vaccine too:

https://www.healthline.com/health-news/the-astrazeneca-vaccine-is-between-62-and-90-effective-what-we-know?slot_pos=article_1&utm_source=Sailthru%20Email&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=daily&utm_content=2020-11-25&apid=36083822&rvid=4bba8f7e044fc3d07949dcaabe98d4e75268ccd077b193ea785122eb0fcfa2e8

Merlin1300 Loc: New England, But Now & Forever SoTX

I'm really waiting for the J&J data to be released - I think their results will be based on a single immunization rather than a 2-shot protocol as with Oxford/AstraZenica. What I do know is that I'll not be looking favorably at any protocol that involves hijacking the human cellular protein replication process as with moderna and pfizer.
Data released 3d ago reports the AZ 2-dose protocol (50%, 100%, 1 month apart) is 90% effective. Strangely - the 2-dose protocol at 100% & 100% was only some 60+% effective.
https://www.astrazeneca.com/media-centre/press-releases/2020/azd1222hlr.html
The phase 1/2 report from J&J lists 98-99% efficacy at about a month after immunization.
Unfortunately they are a bit behind the pack with phase 3 testing.
https://www.jnj.com/johnson-johnson-posts-interim-results-from-phase-1-2a-clinical-trial-of-its-janssen-covid-19-vaccine-candidate

fetzler Loc: North West PA

I had measles, mumps and rubella as a child.

Merlin1300 Loc: New England, But Now & Forever SoTX

Please read the article at the link I initially posted, and maybe even this entire thread with particular attention to my post just 3 above. Your childhood illnesses will NOT protect you. Your circulating Mumps Antibody level slowly declines with time. Although you MAY still have a T-Cell response to Measles, Mumps, and Rubella, sufficient to recreate the antibodies needed to prevent you from getting any of those, that is not what this is about. The important factor is your actual Mumps Antibody Titer - which Covid will not stimulate. Your mumps antibodies must already be present at a high enough level in your system to interact with any Covid that gains entry to you. Those levels slowly fade away over about ? 14 years from the time you were last vaccinated with MMR-II (or had the disease). By now, unless you've recently received an MMR-II booster, your mumps antibody levels are likely Zilch - with a capital Z.
MMR-II vaccine has an excellent safety record with minimal adverse effects. IF it can truly reduce the severity of Covid-19 disease symptoms, and the only real risks may be a few dollars out of your pocket (mine was completely covered, $47 for my 94 year old Mom with United Healthcare), then the benefits / risk = 100 / 0. Do the math.
As a PrevMed doc - - if this post prevents just ONE death - it will have been worth it.

fetzler Loc: North West PA

No need to get the dander up. I just made a comment. I was also born before 1957 and I understand vaccination is for those born after this. Perhaps this is because those born earlier had the real disease.

tomad Loc: North Carolina

I just got in touch with my doctor about this and he does not recommend it. His practice is actively involved in two of the vaccine candidates for Covid-19 that are in stage 3 trials. He said that teenagers are now getting the virus at the same rate and severity as adults even though they had MMR-2. He also said that since MMR II is a live vaccine it could preclude your vaccination of other vaccines for a period of time, including a Covid-19 vaccine when it becomes available.

pmorin Loc: Huntington Beach, Palm Springs

So I’ve read the papers you linked to and then I also did some more research using other sources available on the web. I don’t think this is a sound measure to take at this time. I know, what could it hurt to get the mmr shot? Well, you may not be able to get the COVID vaccine when it first becomes available because no one really knows what the interactions will be or how long it will take before you can get vaccinated for COVID after you’ve had the mmr shot. This per the meeting I just had with my primary care doctor.
The web sources you linked and quoted in the post said it’s an unproven theory at this time and the researchers are just beginning a study on it to either prove or disprove it. In fact they are still looking for subjects.
As Tomad has pointed out, along with my Doctor, there are many individuals in the 20-40 age group that have gotten seriously ill and some have died from COVID. My niece, an RN at a hospital here in Anaheim, was exposed and contracted Covid from a misidentified patient. She’s 42. Although now testing negative, she still is having heart and breathing problems 6 weeks later. Perhaps you caught the 60 Minutes episode last Sunday on the Covid long haulers? It would appear she may be one of them too.
For me, an unproven theory isn’t enough to warrant going all in. I think I’ll still just keep my precautions in place, wear my mask and stay a safe distance from others. At 68 and having had pneumonia twice before, the risks just are not worth the unproven benefits. Thank you for giving my brain something to chew on. Stay safe out there.
P

Merlin1300 Loc: New England, But Now & Forever SoTX

?Did your doctor Read the research article, or just shoot from the hip? Most suggest the time period for avoidance of another vaccination is 30 - 45 days. I don't think a Covid vaccine will be available to the general population until early 2021. Neither is that likely to be the J&J or AstraZenica version I find acceptable.
Teenagers are generally considered 13 - 18 - or thereabouts. Any circulating Mumps antibodies will likely have decreased below protective threshold listed in the research article by then. Even so - although they may become symptomatic, the teenage death rates from Covid are far lower than that for those 70 and above.
https://www.fda.gov/media/75191/download
12.6 Persistence of Antibody Responses After Vaccination Neutralizing and ELISA antibodies to measles, mumps, and rubella viruses are still detectable in 95-100%, 74-91%, and 90-100% of individuals respectively, 11 to 13 years after primary vaccination. Again IMHO - - although detectable, the antibody titer level is likely well below that found to be protective in the index article.

Merlin1300 Loc: New England, But Now & Forever SoTX

1) You won't be able to get the Covid vaccine when it first becomes available. Those will go to health care workers and first responders. I don't believe it will be available for us routine civilians until March 2021. Just my guess. Also - I will not take the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines as we have no long term (30 year) history of vaccines using this new mRNA technology. Messing with the human genome may very well open Pandora's box. The vaccine from AstraZenica may only be a month or 2 behind Moderna/Pfizer, but I'd prefer to wait for J&J which may be 6 months or more away as phase 3 trials are only now on the drawing board.
2) It's not even a theory - it's just a statistical case analysis. However to me, the data they present is quite convincing that the more circulating Mumps antibodies you have, the lower your chances of a severe case of Covid-19. The correlation factor of -0.71 and a p value of < 0.001 is quite significant.
3) Those 20-24 likely have essentially zero circulating mumps antibodies. Their primary vaccination likely occurred between ages 4 - 6, and any residual antibodies are likely well below protective threshold. Risks of MMR-II have mostly been debunked - and while not zero IMHO are well worth any residual risk compared to the chances of acquiring severe Covid at our age. Contraindications and side effect rates can be found here:
https://www.fda.gov/media/75191/download
-
But that's what makes this a horse race. You evaluate the info, make a decision, and hope you win. Sure - there are unknowns and what ifs - but I believe the initial information is convincing enough that looking at benefits vs risk, an MMR-II booster is a good choice.
And yes - I'll still practice social distancing, and wear a mask when out and about until receiving either the Oxford/Astra Zenica or Johnson & Johnson vaccines.

Mark Sturtevant Loc: Grand Blanc, MI

Very interesting and informative discussion here. The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines use mRNA, true, and these are used by your cells to manufacture virus protein to which you then mount an immune response. But they do not change your DNA at all if that is a concern. DNA is permanent information. RNA breaks down after several hours (or is it longer in the case of the vaccine? I don't know). But in any case it does break down.
These are novel kinds of vaccines, but preliminary results show they are effective. I too was skeptical of them, and had been concerned that they could lead to... I don't know what sort of complications. New technology always triggers some negative reactions, and that is understandable. But at present I don't know of a real reason to object to them.

Merlin1300 Loc: New England, But Now & Forever SoTX

Interesting article regarding mRNA duration/lifetime
http://book.bionumbers.org/how-fast-do-rnas-and-proteins-degrade/

tomcat

They won’t really be a problem for us. When they catch COVID, they are just fulfilling Darwin’s theory

Merlin1300 Loc: New England, But Now & Forever SoTX

Hey ID Guy - Are you perchance an MD or PhD? If so - please Read the index article after which I'd like your opinion regarding the possibility that the Mumps antibodies somehow recognize the Covid virus particles and attach to them, stimulating phagocytosis and destruction by macrophages.

tomcat

Is it even remotely possible that when the Covid virus was invented that the researcher used the mumps RNA as a carrier viral outer coat for attaching the "covid" RNA? Just curious because antigen/antibody cascade is so specific to the markers on the viral coat. There has to be something "familiar" about the covid RNA to elicit mumps antibody generation.

(I'm a retired Biochemist from a major blood plasma purification company and did a lot of research with immune globulins, and I was responsible for a technical group that stayed on top of our immune globulin manufacturing process, of which measles immune globulin was one of the products. Sadly, I am now in the throes of dementia and that's why I can't get so technical now--I just don't remember the jargon now-a-days. Sorry that I can't carry on an intelligent technical conversation--this dementia and failing memory are about the 2 worse health issues a person can face. My wife is now having to do the simplest things for me because evening typing is getting less proficient.