Should You Get Vaccinated If You Have Ever Had COVID-19?

If you have ever been infected with COVID-19, you may be wondering if you should be vaccinated against the virus. The short answer is yes! Here’s what you need to know.

The World Health Organization and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention both said the vaccine could be offered to you whether or not you already have a COVID-19 infection. The CDC says it made this decision based on the compelling amount of evidence it possible to be re-infected with the disease.

“We do not know the durability of protection against infection and many vaccinated people do not know if they have been infected due to the high rates of asymptomatic transmission”, Professor Peter Hotez, dean of the National Tropical Medicine School at Baylor College of Medicine and co-director of the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, told IFLScience.

Much evidence has shown that it is possible to be infected with COVID-19 twice. Right now, however, there is still a lot about the COVID-19 re-infection that we don’t know. One of the main questions is how long do antibodies last from an infection. Some studies have suggested that anti-Covid-19 antibodies can disappear within two to three months, while others have suggested even mild infections could trigger long-term immunity because there is evidence of memory T cell responses. In all likelihood, immune memory is likely to differ between people and the severity of the disease, more severe cases likely trigger a stronger immune response.

“Our data shows that 90% of people previously infected with SARS-CoV-2 have lasting immunity – the immune response is there and it stays. But it also means that 10% of COVID-19 survivors have poor immune memory and may be vulnerable to a case of recurrent COVID-19 infection in the future, or they may be more likely to infect others. people, ” explained Dr Alessandro Sette, professor at the La Jolla Institute of Allergy and Immunology, also speaking to IFLScience.

“Unfortunately, we currently have no easy way to measure different types of memory T cells and B cells in concert with antibodies,” Sette added. “But even though we knew the levels of antibodies and T cells, we do not have enough information to determine how much is sufficient to protect individuals against serious infections and / or disease and therefore the decision by default would be to get vaccinated.

Granted, it’s also not clear how long vaccines can end up protecting you, as trials haven’t been long enough to definitively show it, although the data to date is promising. His been determined that protection against the Pfizer vaccine does not decrease for at least two months, while Moderna’s vaccine produces strong antibodies that last at least three months. It is believed that the immunity will last longer than that, but data is not yet available.

“It is likely that vaccination would also increase the levels of immunity acquired through natural immunity,” notes Dr Sette.

There is also no evidence that the vaccine is risky for people who already have COVID-19. Clinical trials of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines did not actively recruit people who had previously contracted the disease, but it is believed that until 10 percent of participants had had the virus due to the presence of certain neutralizing antibodies. Like everyone else in the trial, the vaccine was found to be generally safe, with very limited side effects. However, the CDC suggests that people should wait at least 90 days after infection with COVID-19 “as a precautionary measure until more information becomes available.”

Unfortunately, not everyone will be instantly offered the opportunity to get a COVID-19 vaccine. It could be argued that those who have already been infected are at lower risk and should be pushed to the back of the queue and not prioritized. As such, the WHO has suggested that individuals may wish to defer their own vaccination for up to 6 months “given the limited vaccine supply”. While this makes sense in theory, it will most likely be a choice left to the individual and not written into any rule.

“In terms of prioritization, we don’t have a system in place to operationalize those who have already had an infection, so for now, probably not a criterion. And at least half with a previous infection don’t know it, ”Hotez adds.

For more information on COVID-19, check out the IFLScience COVID-19 hub where you can follow the current status of the pandemic, the progress of vaccine development, and other information on the disease.