Although antibodies from disease may provide some immunity against the virus, data shows that vaccines provide the best protection against COVID-19.
People who have recovered from COVID-19 should get vaccinated to limit their chance of reinfection, which will prevent transmission and the emergence of new variants, such as the highly contagious delta.
“Natural infection will cause your immune system to make many types of antibodies and immune response to all parts of the virus, but only a small fraction of that response is actually protective,” explained Nicole Iovine, chief hospital epidemiologist at the University of Florida Health in Gainesville.
“When you get the vaccine, the entire response is targeted to the virus’s spike protein.”
After a coronavirus infection, “it looks like your protection may vary” depending on a number of factors, said Barbara Ferrer, Los Angeles County Public Health Director.
“It is absolutely true,” she said of COVID-19 survivors who haven’t been vaccinated that “you have some immunity. But it doesn’t last for very long, or for long enough, given how long the pandemic is going on.”
According to a study published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, unvaccinated people who have had COVID-19 are more than twice as likely to be reinfected with the virus as people who have been completely vaccinated after catching the virus.
From May to June, the study included hundreds of Kentucky citizens who had already been infected with COVID-19. It found that those who had not been vaccinated were 2.34 times more likely to be reinfected than those who had been fully vaccinated.
According to Ferrer, the CDC now considers persons who test positive for the coronavirus three months after recovering from a previous infection as a new case of the virus. Officials believe that their waning natural immunity allowed the virus to re-invade their bodies.
“There’s more compelling evidence that indicates that if you’ve been infected, you really benefit tremendously from getting vaccinated. And that it really boosts your system … to be prepared to fend off the virus the next time there’s a threat to your body,” Ferrer said.
“If you have had COVID-19 before, please still get vaccinated,” CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said in a statement.
“This study shows you are twice as likely to get infected again if you are unvaccinated. Getting the vaccine is the best way to protect yourself and others around you, especially as the more contagious delta variant spreads around the country.”
Anyone can be at risk for reinfection, according to health experts, regardless of age or health status.
While individuals who have been vaccinated can also become infected, officials warn that those who have not been vaccinated are especially vulnerable, especially given the incidence of the extremely contagious Delta variant.
“The recommendation is clear that you should be vaccinated even if you’ve had naturally acquired disease,” said UC San Francisco epidemiologist Dr. George Rutherford.
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