The natural immune protection that develops after a SARS-CoV-2 infection offers considerably more of a shield against the Delta variant of the pandemic coronavirus than two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, according to a large Israeli study. The newly released data show people who once had a SARS-CoV-2 infection were much less likely than vaccinated people to get Delta, develop symptoms from it, or become hospitalized with serious COVID-19. The study shows that double vaccinated people were six to 13 times more likely to get infected than unvaccinated people who were previously infected with the coronavirus. The study demonstrates the power of the human immune system.
The researchers also found that people who had SARS-CoV-2 previously were more highly protected against reinfection than those who were vaccinated.
The new work (read below) could inform discussion of whether previously infected people need to receive both doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine or the simila...