London: People previously infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus still benefit from vaccination against COVID-19, gaining 60 per cent to 94 per cent protection against reinfection, according to a study. The research, published in the journal PLOS Medicine, analysed infection and vaccination data from nationwide Danish registers. The data included all people living in Denmark who tested positive for the virus or were vaccinated between January 2020 and January 2022.
The researchers at Statens Serum Institut, Denmark, analysed more than 200,000 people who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 during each of the Alpha, Delta and Omicron waves.
Their findings show that for people with previous infections, vaccination offered up to 71 per cent protection against reinfection during the Alpha period, 94 per cent during the Delta period and 60 per cent during the Omicron period, with protection lasting up to nine months.
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Katrine Finderup Nielsen from Statens Serum Institut said,
In our study we find a significant vaccine effectiveness against SARS-CoV-2 reinfection, and this shows the importance of vaccination also for those who might be protected by natural immunity.
These findings show vaccination protected people against SARS-CoV-2, over and above the protection offered by natural immunity during all three waves of variants.
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The researchers noted that the study was too short to determine whether the vaccine protects against severe outcomes, such as death and hospitalisation. Future studies with longer follow-up times will be necessary to answer this question, they said. From a public health perspective, these insight into vaccine effectiveness can help decision makers plan the timing and execution of vaccination strategies to make them most effective, according to the researchers.
“Even though vaccination seems to protect to a lesser degree against reinfection with the Omicron variant, these findings are of public health relevance as they show that previously infected individuals still benefit from COVID-19 vaccination in all three variant periods”, they added.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diarrhoea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
