A new study coming out of the U.S. CDC just made the discovery that prior infection of COVID offers more protection against the disease than vaccination, especially against being reinfected with the illness and being hospitalized with it, at least during the surge of the Delta variant last fall and summer.
The study analyzed dates from the months of May-November of 2021 and looked at people in New York and California. The results were published on Wednesday in the weekly report from the CDC on Morbidity and Mortality.
In California, the study found that only .5% of people who were unvaccinated and had a prior infection were at least diagnosed with a new COVID infection, and only .003% of those needed to be hospitalized. (That’s a rate of 378 in 1,370,782)
These numbers were much lower than those of people who had been vaccinated and hadn’t had a prior infection of the virus. 1.5% of vaccinated people without a previous infection were diagnosed with COVID and .007% needed to be hospitalized. (That’s 10,737 out of 15,484,235)
New York showed data that was similar during this time period, but they didn’t have any data on hospitalization.
The study also showed that the best-protected individuals were those that had been vaccinated for COVID and had a previous infection. This ‘hybrid immunity’ seemed to help people the most during the surge of the Delta variant. Those who had not been vaccinated or had previous infections were by far those that were most at risk for infections and to be hospitalized.
What can we conclude from this? Vaccination and previous infection both produced protection from the Delta variant.
Researchers also say that getting vaccinated still remains to be the safest way for someone to protect themselves from getting complications of health from the virus, since getting immunity from the virus itself causes obvious risk. Vaccines are still highly effective at helping prevent severe versions of the illness, and even if you do get the virus, you will then be protected with ‘hybrid immunity’ which is most effective.
This proves that immunity from infection is a durable means to an end, and that vaccine mandates are obsolete if someone has a prior infection of the virus.
Author: Jared Farmer
