(SPEEDWAY, Ind.) – Even if you’ve already had COVID-19, health officials still recommend getting vaccinated.
State health department chief medical officer Lindsay Weaver says while reinfection has been rare, it’s not unheard of — unlike diseases like measles or mumps, having the virus doesn’t bring permanent immunity. And Weaver says there’s a multiplier effect: studies indicate the combination of a prior infection and the vaccine produce a significantly stronger immune response than either by itself.
It’s not clear how long immunity from the vaccine lasts either, but it’s believed to be longer. Weaver says researchers will be tracking closely how the vaccine performs over the long term. But she says along with precautions like wearing masks and social distancing, getting vaccinated is the best weapon to drive down the virus’s opportunities to spread.
More than 700,000 Hoosiers have had COVID-19 since the pandemic hit Indiana 14 months ago, including about 20,000 who are sick right now. About 2,000,000 have been vaccinated.
