COVID-19 vaccination more protective than previous infection, study finds
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Another study has found that COVID-19 vaccination is more protective than a previous infection.
In the study, which included more than 7,000 people in nine states, unvaccinated people who were recently infected with SARS-CoV-2 were more than five times likelier to get COVID-19 than people who were fully vaccinated with a COVID-19 messenger RNA vaccine, according to a report in MMWR.
For the study, CDC COVID-19 Response Team member Catherine H. Bozio, PhD, and colleagues assessed 7,348 patients with a previous infection (1,020) or vaccination (6,328) that occurred 90 to 179 days before they were hospitalized in one of 187 U.S. hospitals for COVID-19-like illness.
Infection was confirmed in 324 (5.1%) of fully vaccinated individuals and 89 (8.7%) of unvaccinated patients. Unvaccinated patients with prior infection were 5.49 times more likely to have laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 than those who were fully vaccinated (95% CI, 2.75-10.99).
“We now have additional evidence that reaffirms the importance of COVID-19 vaccines, even if you have had prior infection,” CDC Director Rochelle P. Walensky, MD, MPH, said in a statement.
“This study adds more to the body of knowledge demonstrating the protection of vaccines against severe disease from COVID-19,” Walensky said. “The best way to stop COVID-19, including the emergence of variants, is with widespread COVID-19 vaccination and with disease prevention actions such as mask wearing, washing hands often, physical distancing, and staying home when sick.”
Previous data showed that people who were unvaccinated and had a previous SARS-CoV-2 infection were 2.34 times more likely to be reinfected compared with those who had received a COVID-19 vaccine after being infected with SARS-CoV-2.
Perspective
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This study illustrates that as time from infection increases, the risk for COVID-19 reinfection increases. What’s important to understand is that natural immunity does provide significant protection, but it’s not fully clear what its nature may be.
This study focused on hospitalized patients with COVID-19 and may not be applicable to those who aren’t hospitalized. It’s really important to understand what happens to those who are not hospitalized and how they fare with reinfections. Does infection confer protection against future hospitalization, and how does that compare against the unvaccinated and vaccinated?
Nevertheless, it’s becoming clear that those with prior infection would benefit from just a single dose of vaccination to shore up whatever immunity they have acquired naturally.
U.S. guidance should reflect the fact that a single dose may be sufficient for those with prior infection. Failure to make more precision-guided recommendations based on prior infection status (in favor of one-size-fits-all broad recommendations) fuels vaccine hesitancy.
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