In the United States, more than 65 million people have now recovered from COVID-19. While COVID-19 vaccine has been vital in protecting us from serious sickness, hospitalizations, and death, the U.S. After a SARS-CoV-2 infection, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are now recognising the high protection offered by immunity: so-called natural immunity.
The CDC report evaluated the risk of new SARS-CoV-2 infection across four groups of people: those who were unvaccinated without a prior case of COVID-19, those vaccinated without a prior case of COVID-19, those unvaccinated with prior COVID-19, and those vaccinated with prior COVID-19.
According to the scientists, recent vaccination was more protective against new infection than natural immunity before the development of the delta version of SARS-CoV-2. Natural immunity, on the other hand, was more protective against infection than vaccination when delta became widespread.
During the COVID-19 delta wave, the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection was 32.5-fold lower in California and 19.8-fold lower in New York among those with enhanced immunity due to both vaccination and prior infection, whereas rates among those vaccinated alone were only 6.2-fold lower in California and 4.5-fold lower in New York. Natural immunity was found to be 29.0-fold lower in California and 14.7-fold lower in New York. They also noticed that the pattern of hospitalization rates falls under the same.
Given that the CDC now understands the protective effect of past infection, it is time for federal, state, and county governments to adjust vaccination programs and school or work-entry requirements. Those who have developed natural immunity should be treated equally to those who have been vaccinated. It’s no more difficult to prove a past infection than it is to prove immunization. Many European countries accept that preexisting infection immunity is equivalent to vaccine immunity.
Not exempting individuals who had previously been infected was always unjust; now it’s also unscientific.
