Should people who’ve had Covid get vaccinated? Here’s what the experts say

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/05/should-you-get-vaccinated-if-you-recovered-from-covid-expert-advice.html

Published Fri, Feb 5 202110:13 AM EST
Cory Stieg


•••••

The Centers for Disease Control’s guidance says even people who’ve had Covid can benefit from the getting the vaccine.

“Due to the severe health risks associated with Covid-19 and the fact that reinfection with Covid-19 is possible, you should be vaccinated regardless of whether you already had Covid-19 infection,” according to the CDC. Here’s why.

•••••

New research that hasn’t been peer-reviewed yet found that people who have already had Covid tend to have higher antibody responses after their first dose of the mRNA vaccines than two doses of the vaccine in people who haven’t had it. Some immunologists argue that people who’ve recovered from Covid should only need one dose of a vaccine.

“If you’ve had Covid-19, [a vaccine] may augment or help increase the durability, and even maybe the breadth, of your immune response against coronavirus,” Wohl says.

•••••

It’s uncommon for people who are infected with Covid to get infected again within 90 days of recovering, according to the CDC. CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said that since there’s a lower risk of reinfection in this population, “you may choose to temporarily delay vaccination if you already had Covid-19,” during a Twitter Q&A event Thursday.

Dr. Saad B. Omer, a fellow and spokesperson for the Infectious Diseases Society of America, and director of the Yale Institute for Global Health, agrees that if you’re someone who has Covid antibodies “you can afford to wait a little bit” to get the vaccine. “In the long run, it could be risky [to not get the vaccine] because there’s a higher rate of reinfection than those who go get vaccinated,” Omer tells CNBC Make It.