- According to two recent, non-peer-reviewed studies, people who recovered from COVID-19 produced a robust immune response that was superior to vaccination alone, and adding one or more vaccine doses offered even stronger protection.
- Fully vaccinated people who recovered from a rare breakthrough case also showed a higher level of immunity than people who were only vaccinated.
- Researchers stress that vaccines alone continue to provide excellent protection against severe COVID-19 symptoms.
New research from the United Kingdom found that people who have had COVID-19 and also received both doses of the vaccine had higher levels of antibodies compared to people who had only acquired the virus or had only been vaccinated.
The study, which was published on the pre-print server medRxiv on August 24 and not yet peer-reviewed, evaluated the effectiveness of the Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca (which is not available in the United States) vaccines against the Delta variant and found that while vaccination still provides significant protection, fully vaccinated people who previously had COVID-19 are the best-protected group.
Another pre-print posted in medRxiv on August 25, which looked at only the Pfizer vaccine, found that protection against the Delta variant from a prior case appears to be stronger than the immunity conferred from vaccination.
Neither of the studies included the one-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.
The report, which is the largest real-world observational study comparing natural immunity to vaccine-induced immunity, found that people who previously had COVID-19 were less likely to acquire the Delta variant, develop the symptomatic disease, or require hospitalization compared to vaccinated people who had not previously had the disease.
People with prior COVID-19 disease who received at least one dose of the vaccine had even stronger and longer-lasting protection against the Delta variant, according to the findings.
Based on these preliminary studies, acquiring the virus confers durable, lasting protection, which can be further strengthened by vaccination.
While vaccinated individuals who’ve previously had COVID-19 can feel very safe, it’s important to recognize that the strength of everyone’s immune systems is different.
Your chances of redeveloping the disease depend on your genetics, health, how you were exposed, and what variant you were exposed to.
Source: healthline