In the United States recognized 'natural immunity' from COVID-19: it can be equated with vaccination

Currently, more than 65 million people have recovered from the coronavirus infection in the United States. And while COVID-19 vaccination is critical to protecting against severe illness, hospitalizations, and death, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recognized the strong protection provided by immunity following SARS-CoV-2 infection. Writes about it The Hill.

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In a CDC report that analyzed 19 COVID-2021 cases in California and New York from May 30 to November 20, scientists compared the risk of new SARS-CoV-2 infection among four groups of people:

• not vaccinated without infection;
• vaccinated without infection;
• not vaccinated;
• vaccinated.

The authors explain that before the advent of the SARS-CoV-2 delta variant, vaccination protected against a new infection more than natural immunity. However, after delta became prevalent, natural immunity was more effective against infection than vaccination.

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During the COVID-19 delta wave, the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 among individuals with "enhanced" immunity from both vaccination and prior infection was 32,5 times lower in California and 19,8 times lower in New York. York, while rates among those vaccinated alone (without prior COVID-19) were only 6,2 times lower in California and 4,5 times lower in New York. Rates among those with natural immunity were 29,0 times lower in California and 14,7 times lower in New York. The authors note that the frequency of hospitalizations was similar.

The report acknowledges what many have suspected for a long time: COVID-19 provides excellent natural immunity not only to reinfection, but also to hospitalization and death from the delta variant of COVID-19.

The scheme for improved protection after natural infection makes sense. It has always been so. This is how immunity against infections works. That's why vaccines work. Vaccines for COVID-19 were developed to mimic natural infection based on the original virus, identified in 2019, which biologists refer to as the SARS-CoV-2 strain. Vaccines, especially the most common mRNA-based vaccines, use the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, which acts as a key to enter cells and cause infection. By blocking this entry with vaccine-induced antibodies, infection is prevented.

In contrast, natural infection exposes the human body to all parts of the virus, including the spike protein. When the immune system responds to ensure recovery from infection, it becomes broader and more diverse, with a greater ability to defend against any future variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Thus, while mutations naturally form in the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein during virus evolution, a targeted vaccine-based approach to attack the spike protein, while still effective, is not as reliable as the arsenal built as a result of infection with a real virus, and is most effective when combined with vaccination.

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What is clear from the CDC's new all-time report is that the worst group to fall into is the unvaccinated group with no prior COVID-19. This group is most likely to be infected and is at risk for severe disease.

Vaccination is superior to natural infection because the risk of death or severe long-term symptoms is lower. One of the limitations of the CDC study was to wait for new data and studies to see if there are differences in immunity due to vaccination or prior infections during the current period of the highly infectious omicron variant.

Given that now that the CDC recognizes the protective effect of prior infection, it's time to update vaccination policy and school or work requirements. Individuals with natural immunity should have the same status as those who have been vaccinated. Proving prior infection is no more difficult than proving vaccination. Many European countries recognize that immunity due to prior infection is equivalent to vaccination.

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