New studies show people who get COVID-19 less likely to get reinfected

[PeteS in CA]

New studies show people who get COVID-19 less likely to get reinfected

https://www.foxnews.com/health/new-studies-covid-19-less-likely-reinfected

Two new medical studies suggest that people who are infected once with COVID-19 are very unlikely to test positive again for up to six months and possibly longer.

Researchers found that people with antibodies from natural infections were "at much lower risk ... on the order of the same kind of protection you'd get from an effective vaccine," of getting the virus again, said Dr. Ned Sharpless, director of the U.S. National Cancer Institute, which conducted one of the studies.

"It's very, very rare" to get reinfected, he said.

I'd love to see how severity of infection and degree of protection correllate. My understanding is that if one had a very mild case of chicken pox the possibility of a second infection is higher than someone whose case was less mild.

[MajorClay]

That settles it, I won't be getting the vaccine

[thackney]

That settles it, I won't be getting the vaccine

I am trying to understand your comment in reference to the original article.  Do you mean you would rather get the virus than the vaccine, because it would help prevent future infection of the virus?

I probably misunderstand.  I hope you will better explain the point your were making.  It does not seem clear in this context.

Cheers!

[PeteS in CA]

One can get immunity via having the disease or being vaccinated. So it's a risk-benefit choice. The benefit is immunity.

With the vaccines the risks are significant allergic reactions for a very small percentage of people plus only having 3-9 months of safety data from test participants. Some test participants had symptoms serious enough that they had to take off a day or two from work.

For having the disease the risks are: death, for a very small percentage of people; serious illness, for a somewhat larger percentage of people; two or more weeks of significant disruptive illness for even more; asymptomatic cases that are detected by testing, but were too weak to create immunity; after-effects including several weeks of temporary mental issues, organ damage, and months of disrupted senses of smell and taste.

ETA: Looks like I was incorrect about the disease risk I highlighted above, https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-12-evidence-immunity-mild-asymptomatic-covid-.html . Glad to learn that mild SARS-CoV-2 infections can create significant immunity.