Natural Immunity Outperforms Vaccines in Protection Against COVID-19: Meta-analysis

John Lopez, Tech Times 16 March 2023, 08:03 am

According to a recent meta-analysis published in The Lancet, natural immunity provides greater protection against COVID-19 than vaccinations.

Data analysis from 56 research in 19 countries revealed that, except for Omicron, all COVID-19 variants give significant protection against reinfection, symptomatic infection, and severe disease.

Natural Immunity Outperforms COVID-19 Vaccine

Based on the analysis, natural immunity provides protection for a significantly extended period than vaccination. Prior infection provided substantial protection even with the Omicron form, which has reduced efficacy for vaccines and natural immunity.

Epoch Health highlights that past COVID infection provides significantly high levels of protection against reinfection (over 80%), symptomatic infection (over 82%), and severe disease (over 78%) for the original strain and the Alpha, Beta, and Delta variants.

For Omicron variations, protective effectiveness declined to 44 percent and 45 percent for reinfection and symptomatic infection, respectively. Nonetheless, Omicron's efficiency against serious disorders was still greater than 80%.

The result also shows that a previous infection protects against a second infection for much longer and at a higher rate than many other vaccines and their boosters.

Even though the Omicron variant is a disruptive force for the effectiveness of vaccines and natural immunity, the protection from a previous infection stays above 25% 80 weeks after infection. In contrast, the efficacy of the Moderna vaccine drops to single digits 40 days after vaccination.

Importantly, the study discovered that infection-acquired immunity reduced the probability of hospitalization and mortality from a Covid reinfection by 88% for at least ten months.

What about the vaccination? According to research, the efficacy of immunizations may decline over time; thus, select populations are now authorized to receive additional doses called boosters. These boosters can increase the protection afforded by COVID-19 vaccinations.

Amid Results Government Efforts Focused on Vaccines

Notwithstanding these findings, many health initiatives have disregarded the efficacy of natural immunity in favor of vaccination campaigns, mandating vaccinations for even people with natural immunity protection.

For many government health authorities, vaccination appears to be the only valid source of COVID immunity or protection.

Limitations of the Study

The meta-analysis is limited by the fact that the study did not indicate which viral variant infected the individuals in the previously infected group.

Another complication with the data is that it lacks sufficient information on several vaccinations manufactured by Johnson & Johnson as well as AstraZeneca.

However, the data demonstrate that a past COVID infection is significantly more effective than vaccinations at preventing reinfection and severe disease.

The research also demonstrates that Omicron has altered experts' perceptions of the pandemic. While the effectiveness of all vaccines and natural immunity has plummeted, the variation does not cause serious illness. Scientists, however, are still unable to answer critical concerns about the virus.

Meanwhile, a study released in August 2021 reveals that for people who had COVID-19 and are not vaccinated, their chance of reinfection is more than twice that of individuals who were vaccinated.

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