At a time when people are talking about booster doses to fight the third wave of COVID-19 – led by the Omicron variant, a new study has found that those who were infected with the coronavirus were better protected than those who were only vaccinated. According to the study, which was conducted in New York and California, compared coronavirus protection among people who were tested COVID-19 positive during the Delta surge with those who were both vaccinated or had a prior infection and then got fully vaccinated.
The study found that the most protected were those who were both vaccinated and were also infected with the coronavirus. Interestingly, unvaccinated people with a prior infection were close second when it came to protection. The study examined infections in two states during last summer and fall. It must be noted that booster doses were not that widespread by fall.
The study has been released by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. While releasing the details, it noted several caveats to the research. Some experts have worried about people may interpret the findings of the study.
“The bottom line message is that from symptomatic Covid infection you do generate some immunity,” said immunologist E John Wherry of the University of Pennsylvania. “But it’s still much safer to get your immunity from vaccination than from infection.”
According to immunologist Ali Ellebedy, at Washington University in St Louis, there are so many variables that can’t be controlled and that you cannot simply say ‘Oh, I’m infected than I am protected.’