Post-infection immunity might be a strange topic for political strife, but it touches on COVID-19 vaccine mandates and whether those who¡¯ve had the virus should be exempt. And so when publications such as The Hill run headlines such as ¡°CDC Finally Recognizing Natural Immunity ¡ª Legislators should Follow,¡± it carries the implication the CDC has been ignoring some long-held scientific evidence. But the science is more complicated and unsettled than that.
The relevant science question isn¡¯t whether natural immunity exists but whether it¡¯s as protective and lasts as long as vaccine-induced immunity. Studies have given conflicting answers. The situation is now changing again, as the BA.2 variant is starting to take over. It¡¯s still considered omicron, but it looks to be wildly different from the version of omicron that¡¯s been dominant, called BA.1.
Scientists confirmed that an infection with SARS-CoV-2 creates some degree of immunity in May 2020, based in part on a study published in Science, which was led by Dan Barouch, director of the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. ¡°We did the study in May 2020, not so much to test natural immunity, but really as part of our vaccine program,¡± he told me this week.
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