People who previously contracted Covid-19 have about the same level of protection against contracting the disease as those fully inoculated with two key vaccines, according to the findings of a study published Monday which adds to a growing and sometimes contradictory body of research on natural immunity.
The study published by the U.K.’s Office of National Statistics (ONS) looked at more than 8,000 positive coronavirus tests across Britain between May and August, when delta was the dominant variant.
During this time, people who had previously recovered from Covid-19 were about 71% less likely to contract it a second time, the analysis found.
This represents about the same level of protection the study found was offered by two doses of the vaccines made by Pfizer and AstraZeneca, which have been prominently used in Europe’s inoculation drive.
Two doses of the Pfizer vaccine reduced the risk of contracting Covid-19 by around 73% compared to 62% for AstraZeneca’s vaccine.
The overlap in confidence intervals meant there “was no evidence” that full vaccination was any more effective in preventing Covid-19 than previous natural infection, the researchers concluded.
***The study, which has not been peer-reviewed, found the previous infection was similarly effective at preventing symptomatic Covid-19, but did not delve into the differences between natural infection and vaccines in preventing severe disease.***
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