It has been advised by the Union health ministry that those who have recovered from COVID-19, doesn’t matter a few days ago or months ago, should also get vaccinated, as there is no certainty that for how long the natural immunity will last or how strong it is. The logic behind getting a vaccine for coronavirus is that the antibody levels begin to deplete after a few months and leaving people susceptible to catch the virus a second time (approximately three to four months after the first).
It has been suggested by the health officials that people who have been recently recovered from COVID-19 may be able to hold off for a few months before getting the vaccine, and those who have been recovered from the virus several months ago should get shot first as there are limited vaccines available now.
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A well renowned infectious disease doctor at Yale Medicine, Onyema Ogbuagu, who has been continuously testing the Pfizer vaccine, said that he would recommend the vaccine for those who have suffered from the virus three to four months ago (or longer).
It has been suspected by the researchers that the immunity improved by the vaccine will be more robust than the immunity achieved from natural disease. But this theory is still unverified. Still, whether the patients have a mild or severe case, they have to undergo vaccination at some point.
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Dr. Prathit Kulkarni, an infectious disease expert at Baylor College of Medicine focuses light on his statement by saying that “Vaccines are designed to improve an optimal immune response of a person, and they should boost whatever pre-existing immunity a person has after the infection.”
Dr. Kulkarni further added, “Since we are trapped in this pandemic and do not have control over it, the best and safer approach will be to get a vaccine because you don’t lose anything, in fact, you will always be benefited from it.”
For some health experts, vaccines can increase antibody levels, hence improving immunity, and for some, it could lead to a severe reaction in certain people. That’s why the vaccines are not a hundred percent reliable right now as thousands of tests are running continuously on daily basis to achieve a reliable one.
In order to formulate accurate data, some of the doctors have suggested the idea of running antibody tests to determine whether a person has natural immunity before vaccinating him so that people with almost no immunity could be prioritized for vaccination and they can be vaccinated immediately.
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