As Malta urges people to get vaccinated against the coronavirus and remains the only EU country refusing recovery certificates for entry, a US study confirms the jabs offer better protection than natural immunity alone.
The study by the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention shows that unvaccinated people are more than twice as likely to be reinfected with the virus than those who were fully vaccinated after initially contracting the virus.
The research, carried out this summer in Kentucky, proves that COVID vaccines offer better protection than natural immunity alone and that jabs, even after prior infection, help prevent reinfections.
A further study, also endorsed by the CDC, shows that vaccines prevented COVID-linked hospitalisations among the highest risk age groups.
The study considered people to be fully vaccinated 14 days after receiving a single J&J dose or a second dose of Pfizer or Moderna.
The head of Infection Control at Mater Dei Hospital, Professor Michael Borg, told Times of Malta that a similar study here would obtain similar results since the same vaccines are used.
He also confirmed that local professionals have noticed limited immunity from being infected with COVID.
“We are well aware of individuals who suffered multiple COVID-19 infections last year before the vaccine campaign – some even within three or four months from the previous infection,” he said.
Superior immunity gained from vaccination is not related to time but to the quality of immune response
The findings, Borg said, were relevant to the whole world because they continued to emphasise the importance of vaccination.
“They also debunk the often-peddled perception that it is better to get infected to build a ‘natural’ immune response,” he said.
“If you get infected, not only do you put yourself at risk of the possible serious complications of COVID-19, even if you are young, but you also end up getting an inferior immunity against the virus and future exposures,” he added.
Do we know how long immunity lasts?
“It would seem that the superior immunity gained from vaccination is not related to time but to the quality of immune response.
“It has been suggested that in natural infections, the body produces antibodies to the many parts of the coronavirus,” the professor explained.
“However, not all of these antibodies play a role in preventing infection. On the other hand, the EU-approved vaccines, which we use, elicit antibodies specifically against the spike protein, which is the primary player in the infection process.”
Last week Tanya Melillo, head of the Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Unit, told Times of Malta that people who have been vaccinated make up just a quarter of those who have contracted the virus in the fourth wave of the pandemic, from a population in which close to 90 per cent have now received the jab.