Having Covid 19 reduces the likelihood of getting it again for months. How many months depends upon how severe the infection was and whether or not this is a new strain. Antibody response is said to be directly proportional to the severity of the infection. Vaccinating patients who have had Covid 19 produces a greater antibody response than people who haven’t had it by a lot. Here is a summary of an article from Journal Watch .
By Amy Orciari Herman
Edited by David G. Fairchild, MD, MPH, and Jaye Elizabeth Hefner, MD
Take a look at today’s COVID-19 vaccine news:
Post-vaccination antibodies in people who’ve had COVID-19: People who’ve had COVID-19 and then receive the vaccine mount higher antibody responses after one dose than COVID-19-naive people mount after two doses, suggests a study posted on the preprint server medRxiv. Researchers studied 109 vaccine recipients, 38% of whom were seropositive for SARS-CoV-2 at the time of vaccination. They found that median antibody titers among seropositive vaccinees after their first dose were over ten times higher than titers among seronegative vaccinees after their second dose. Seropositive vaccinees also had more systemic side effects, like fatigue and headache. The researchers note that long-term follow-up is needed to see whether the observed immune responses last. One of the researchers told the New York Times, “I think one vaccination should be sufficient [in those who’ve had COVID-19]. … This would also spare individuals from unnecessary pain when getting the second dose and it would free up additional vaccine doses.” Here is a link to the article.
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.01.29.21250653v1.full.pdf
Here are the interim recommendations for vaccinating people who have had Covid 19, people who have had it following their first dose of vaccine and those who have been treated with monoclonal antibodies.
Vaccination of persons with a SARS-CoV-2 infection
Persons with a current or prior history of SARS-CoV-2 infection
Data from clinical trials indicate that mRNA COVID-19 vaccines can safely be given to persons with evidence of a prior SARS-CoV-2 infection. Vaccination should be offered to persons regardless of history of prior symptomatic or asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection. Viral testing to assess for acute SARS-CoV-2 infection or serologic testing to assess for prior infection for the purposes of vaccine decision-making is not recommended.
Vaccination of persons with known current SARS-CoV-2 infection should be deferred until the person has recovered from the acute illness (if the person had symptoms) and criteria have been met for them to discontinue isolation. This recommendation applies to persons who develop SARS-CoV-2 infection before receiving any vaccine doses as well as those who develop SARS-CoV-2 infection after the first dose but before receipt of the second dose.
While there is no recommended minimum interval between infection and vaccination, current evidence suggests that the risk of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection is low in the months after initial infection but may increase with time due to waning immunity. Thus, while vaccine supply remains limited, persons with recent documented acute SARS-CoV-2 infection may choose to temporarily delay vaccination, if desired, recognizing that the risk of reinfection, and therefore the need for vaccination, may increase with time following initial infection.
For vaccinated persons who subsequently develop COVID-19, prior receipt of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine should not affect treatment decisions (including use of monoclonal antibodies, convalescent plasma, antiviral treatment, or corticosteroid administration) or timing of such treatments.
Persons who previously received passive antibody therapy
Currently, there are no data on the safety and efficacy of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines in persons who received monoclonal antibodies or convalescent plasma as part of COVID-19 treatment. Based on the estimated half-life of such therapies as well as evidence suggesting that reinfection is uncommon in the 90 days after initial infection, vaccination should be deferred for at least 90 days, as a precautionary measure until additional information becomes available, to avoid potential interference of the antibody therapy with vaccine-induced immune responses. This recommendation applies to persons who receive passive antibody therapy before receiving any vaccine doses as well as those who receive passive antibody therapy after the first dose but before the second dose, in which case the second dose should be deferred for at least 90 days following receipt of the antibody therapy.
For persons receiving antibody therapies not specific to COVID-19 treatment (e.g., intravenous immunoglobulin, RhoGAM), administration of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines either simultaneously with or at any interval before or after receipt of an antibody-containing product is unlikely to substantially impair development of a protective antibody response. Thus, there is no recommended minimum interval between other antibody therapies (i.e., those that are not specific to COVID-19 treatment) and mRNA COVID-19 vaccination.
