There has been uncertainty about how long immunity lasts after someone who is unvaccinated is infected with SARS-CoV-2.
Now a team of scientists led by Yale School of Public Health and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte has published a study indicating strong protection following natural infection is short-lived.
“Reinfection can reasonably happen in three months or less,” said Jeffrey Townsend, the Elihu Professor of Biostatistics at the Yale School of Public Health and a lead author of the study. “Therefore, those who have been naturally infected should get vaccinated. Previous infection alone can offer very little long-term protection against subsequent infections.”
The study is the first to determine the likelihood of reinfection following natural infection and without vaccination.
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