Why one vaccine shot may be enough if you've had Covid

Past Infection Might Serve You As Your First Vaccine Dose, New Research Finds

- Abhilash Gaur

Does a coronavirus infection make you immune? For a long time, there was no clear answer. The big question was – how long does immunity last? Because Covid is still a relatively new disease, all we can say even now is that past infection seems to protect people for a few months. Does that mean they don’t need vaccines?

No. There have been some confirmed cases of re-infection, and it is increasingly looking like two new variants of the coronavirus in Brazil and South Africa are able to dodge old immunity. So, vaccination will still help people with a past infection. But then, another question arises – do they need the full course of two shots, or will one be enough?

This is a very important question right now as vaccines are in short supply. If past patients can do with just one shot, it frees up many millions of doses for others. For instance, the latest serosurvey in Delhi shows more than half the population has Covid antibodies. In the US, up to a third of the population may have coronavirus antibodies by now. If all of those people need just one dose each, others can be vaccinated faster.

‘ALREADY PRIMED’