Why You Need to Get Vaccinated Even If You’ve Already Had COVID-19

• Experts say a person who’s had COVID-19 still needs to get vaccinated against the disease.
• They note that the immune response after having the disease isn’t as strong as the defensive response that occurs after vaccination.
• They also note that people who’ve had COVID-19 can still contract and transmit the coronavirus more easily if they haven’t been vaccinated.

Health experts are urging people who have already had COVID-19 to get vaccinated.

Their recommendation comes after Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, who contracted COVID-19 in March 2020, stated he does not plan on getting vaccinated against the disease.

“Until they show me evidence that people who have already had the infection are dying in large numbers or being hospitalized or getting very sick, I just made my own personal decision that I’m not getting vaccinated because I’ve already had the disease and I have natural immunity,” he told a WABC radio show in New York.

That statement goes against the guidance of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which advises that people should be vaccinated regardless of whether they have already had COVID-19.

“Experts do not yet know how long you are protected from getting sick again after recovering from COVID-19. Even if you have already recovered from COVID-19, it is possible — although rare — that you could be infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 again,” the CDC guidance states.