Past infection with “covid” protects you from future infection
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(22)02465-5/fulltext
Ahhhhh I am reflecting back to December 2020. When the “medical pundits” proclaimed that having natural immunity amounted to zero, and if you want to have super immunity then you needed to get a covid shot, because it “supercharged your immunity”. That narrative was utter bullshit to convince people who WERE naturally immune to get the vaccine anyways.
What do we know now? Having a previous covid infection was highly effective at preventing repeated covid infections. A vaccine was never needed. For anyone. But if you had already had covid, you certainly didn’t need one. Propaganda and lies. Now mind you, this article was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, so they give you some truth, but not the WHOLE truth. Such as, the study ended in September 2022, right as the new bivalent OMICRON “booster” was hitting the market. So they readily admitted “We identified a total of 65 studies from 19 different countries. Our meta-analyses showed that protection from past infection and any symptomatic disease was high for ancestral, alpha, beta, and delta variants, but was substantially lower for the omicron BA.1 variant.“. Oh of course it was “lower” for omicron. They wanted to encourage people to get the new omicron booster. Even if they had already had covid. The other 2 vaccines were irrelevant now, the new booster on the block was a “must get” because you are protected from everything else covid but definitely not Omicron.
Taking a little gander at this table, there was 82% and greater protection from catching covid again for everything except Omicron. (I believe that number is fudged to get people to take the new booster last fall). Second, protection against symptomatic disease was also 82% and greater except for Omicron (also believe this number was fudged to encourage the omicron booster). But that 3rd table. “Protection against severe disease”. Across the board, 79% and greater reduction in having severe covid disease IF you had covid before. This table included Omicron with a high number because OMICRON WAS NEVER SEVERE TO BEGIN WITH. It was a cold/mild flu. People didn’t land in hospitals to be murdered on a vent with remdesivir like the earlier “strains”.
My humble opinion? Having previous covid protected you and still does from catching covid again. How many people are unvaccinated and caught covid once or twice total? How many people are vaccinated and caught covid numerous times? How many people have natural immunity right now? The shot was never needed. I know, beating a dead horse. But this study is a great example of swaying people to get yet another vaccine, while also showing the truth that natural immunity was highly effective.
Another conspiracy theory proven correct. In 2021 when the shots rolled out they ran headlines like anti-vaxxers have a dangerous theory called “natural immunity.” Catching covid may be the least of the issues for the vaccinated. My husband has a 35 year old fit co-worker that had a heart attack yesterday. He woke up in the hospital with no memory of the event - fortunately his wife was there to call 911. Seems to be an awful lot of heart attacks, aneurisms, and strokes in people under 60.
They had to run with this narrative because otherwise the calculation was "Am I worried about catching covid?"
Obviously when you allow Americans to make their own risk assessments, many (most?) would simply choose to get the virus instead of getting vaxxed. (Which is exactly what I did -- I TRIED catching it, but it took me 20 months and an infected vaccinated friend)