Many people are still confused about the COVID-19 vaccines and whether they are necessary, especially if they have already been affected by a coronavirus. Here’s what experts say about the importance of vaccination.
According to a new small study, some researchers discovered that people who have already had coronavirus may not benefit from vaccination. They claimed that people who had previously been infected had more protection compared to those who had been fully vaccinated. Researchers are still learning how natural immunity is more capable when compared to vaccination immunity.
How Did the Immune System Work?
According to Dr. Miriam Smith, chief of infectious disease at Long Island Jewish Forest Hills, Northwell Health in New York, says that our immune system includes B cells, a type of white blood cell (WBC) responsible for humoral immunity.
Smith explained that “B cells have surface receptors that can bind to these pathogens and they originate and mature in the bone marrow, then migrate to the spleen and lymph nodes,” and “B cells become activated in response to an antigen, a virus, or bacterium.”
In total, 52,238 people were included in the study. Among them, 49,659 people had never had coronavirus before (22,777 of them were vaccinated).
And the remaining 2,579 people were affected by COVID-19 and in that 1,359 of them were unvaccinated.
The individuals were followed from December 2020 to May 2021, during which time none of the 2,579 people who had already received COVID-19 were contracted the virus (including the 1,359 who remained unvaccinated).
According to the findings, vaccination significantly reduces the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection in people who haven’t already had COVID-19 but not necessarily in people who have. Those people appeared to have comparable immunity to those who had been fully vaccinated.
Who Should Get Vaccinated?
The vaccines should be prioritized for those who have never had COVID-19. “I’d likely keep those doses for the un-immune, those who haven’t had prior infection, and then go back and decide if we need to immunize [previously ill people],” says the researcher.
According to other resources, there were nearly 0 cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection among a large pool of healthcare workers who had
- Previously contracted the virus and were unvaccinated
- Previously contracted the virus and were vaccinated
- Never contracted the virus and were vaccinated
Scientists are still investigating whether there are any advantages to vaccinating people who have already been infected. They’re also looking into how natural immunity compares to vaccination immunity.
