A Covid infection protects as well as if you have been vaccinatedconcludes a study in the journal The Lancet
released on Friday. To date, this is one of the largest studies conducted on this crucial subject in the management of the epidemic. “Even if an infection gives protection that diminishes over time, the level of this (…) seems to be as long-lasting, if not more so than that conferred by vaccination“, concludes this work published in the journal The Lancet.
The authors of the study relied on messenger RNA vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, which are among the most effective against Covid and have been widely used in vaccination campaigns in many Western countries. If this subject of study is not new, the work published in The Lancet is of unprecedented scope: it compiles around sixty pre-existing studies, with a follow-up of several years which notably takes into account the emergence at the end of 2021 of the Omicron variant.
Weak protection against reinfection with Omicron but strong against a severe form
Omicron has proven to be much more contagious than its predecessors and capable of infecting many vaccinated people, without putting them at high risk of serious illness. The Lancet study concludes that the same is true of past coronavirus infection: protection is rather weak against reinfection with Omicron, but strong against a severe form.
These results do not mean that it is indifferent to be vaccinated or to be infected to acquire a first immunity: it is indeed much more risky to fall ill, in particular at the oldest. However, this study gives a more precise vision of what can be expected within the population of the development of a “hybrid” immunity, as more and more individuals will have been both vaccinated and sick at least once.
“In the long term, most infections will strike people who are well protected against serious forms, following a previous infection, vaccination or both.“, underlined researchers, not involved in the study, in a commentary also published by the Lancet. These results therefore give hope that future waves of Covid will result in low levels of hospitalizationsthey conclude.
