[katieHaylor (OP)]

Nick says:

Do you know if any of the vaccines, when they went through animal trials, resulted in all the virus being removed from the subject after continuous testing and enough time passing?

[set fair]

I don't think you can test to find out if all the virus has gone.

[Bored chemist]

Also vaccines don't remove virus from  patients or animals, they prevent it gaining a hold.

[evan_au]

Also vaccines don't remove virus from  patients or animals, they prevent it gaining a hold.

Yes, I agree that is the primary goal.
- And the vaccine is not the vehicle to control/remove/block the virus - it is the patient's immune system that attacks the virus
- The vaccine is merely an education device for the immune system

Patients with a compromised immune system may not be so effective at clearing the virus
- Some viruses invade immune-protected tissues in the body, where they can hide out, eg chicken pox hides inside nerve cells, and later appears as shingles.
- Whether SAS-COV2 can hide somewhere in the body - it's too early to tell.
- So the best option is to have a vaccine, to stop it taking hold, so it can't hide out!

But even if the immune system doesn't entirely block infection, the vaccine gives the immune system "early warning" of what the virus looks like, so the immune system has a head start in controlling and removing the virus.
- This means the peak number of virus particles will be lower
- The number of infected cells will be lower
- Disease should be milder, and death less likely
- Virus is less likely to reach immune-protected regions of the body
- Generation of bulk virus that goes to infect others will be reduced.