If you have already had and recovered from COVID-19, do you still need to be vaccinated against the virus?
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ATLANTA — If you have already had and recovered from COVID-19, do you still need to be vaccinated against the virus?
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta, the answer is “yes.”
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, the CDC website explains. If you were treated for COVID-19 symptoms with monoclonal antibodies or convalescent plasma, you should wait 90 days before getting a COVID-19 vaccine. Talk to your doctor if you are unsure what treatments you received or if you have more questions about getting a COVID-19 vaccine.
Experts do not yet know how long someone is protected from getting sick again after recovering from COVID-19, the website states. The immunity someone gains from having an infection, called “natural immunity,” varies from person to person.
While it is rare for someone who has had COVID-19 to get infected again, “We won’t know how long immunity produced by vaccination lasts until we have more data on how well the vaccines work,” the website states.
Both natural immunity and vaccine-induced immunity are important aspects of COVID-19 that experts are working to learn more about, and CDC will keep the public informed as new evidence becomes available.
