COVID-19 Vaccine Twice as Effective as Antibody Protection Against Reinfection

August 6th, 2021

By Gary Evans, Medical Writer

COVID-19 vaccination is more than twice as protective as circulating antibodies in people who had a prior infection with SARS-CoV-2, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports.

“A study of COVID-19 infections in Kentucky among people who were previously infected with SAR-CoV-2 shows that unvaccinated individuals are more than twice as likely to be reinfected with COVID-19 than those who were fully vaccinated after initially contracting the virus,” the CDC states. “These data further indicate that COVID-19 vaccines offer better protection than natural immunity alone and that vaccines, even after prior infection, help prevent reinfections.”

This has been something of an ongoing issue, with some who acquired COVID citing natural immunity and no need for vaccination. This is a doubly dangerous view that comes amid the national struggle to get the unvaccinated to roll up their sleeves. Other emerging incentives are that COVID-19 is being seen in younger patients, and almost all hospitalizations and deaths are in the non-vaccinated.

“The study of hundreds of Kentucky residents with previous infections through June 2021 found that those who were unvaccinated had 2.34 times the odds of reinfection compared with those who were fully vaccinated,” the CDC reported.

“COVID-19 vaccines remain safe and effective. They prevent severe illness, hospitalization, and death. Additionally, even among the uncommon cases of COVID-19 among the fully or partially vaccinated, vaccines make people more likely to have a milder and shorter illness compared to those who are unvaccinated. CDC continues to recommend everyone 12 and older get vaccinated against COVID-19.”