Research: vaccinated 5 times less risk of going to the hospital than COVID-19 patients

New study by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showedthat people relying on immunity from previous COVID-19 were five times more likely to be hospitalized with recurrent coronavirus symptoms than those who were vaccinated.

In researchLaboratory-Confirmed COVID-19 Among Adults Hospitalized with COVID-19 – Like Illness with Infection-Induced or mRNA Vaccine-Induced SARS-CoV-2 Immunity studied data from 7,348 people with symptoms of COVID-19. Of these, 1,020 people were not vaccinated, but had been ill earlier, while 6,328 were vaccinated with Moderna or Pfizer drugs and had no previous illness.

The SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, was detected in 89 people from the first group (8.7% of 1020) and 324 people from the second (5.1% of 6 328). Comparison of the data of these groups showed that in unvaccinated patients who had already been ill earlier, the likelihood hospitalizations with re-infection are 5.49 times higher than in vaccinated patients infected for the first time.

According to Sean Grannis, a professor at Indiana University School of Medicine, this study provides a clear answer to the question of whether to vaccinate those who are already ill.

Typically, as the body is fighting an infection, the immune system learns to recognize the pathogen in order to fight back if it re-infects. That is why some people either do not get sick again, or they suffer the disease in a mild form. However, the effectiveness of the immune system can vary for many individual reasons, so full recovery from COVID-19 cannot guarantee protection against complications if repeated infection.