If you thought that your body’s immune system will have been boosted by a previous infection with Sars-Cov-2, to dispense with vaccination, new research dashes those hopes.
The study was conducted among healthcare workers, who contracted Covid-19, by researchers at Oxford University, with the UK Coronavirus Immunology Consortium.
Their findings lead them to emphasize the importance of vaccination, regardless of whether you had contracted the virus earlier in the pandemic.
Analysis of blood tests from the healthcare workers, found varying degrees of immune responses. Some individuals were better than others, at fighting the virus, six months after the initial infection.
The researchers conclude that while there is an immune response, the variability between individuals means that it cannot be relied upon to protect you from future infection, especially, with the new variants that continue to mutate.
The natural immune response lacks the robust effectiveness provided by the vaccine.
The researchers used a machine learning system, they dubbed Simon, to measure natural immune responses.
Misleading myths about Coronavirus mutate quick and more often than the virus itself. The research, yet to be peer reviewed, is an important contribution to the toolbox of weapons against these myths.
