Does a COVID-19 breakthrough infection actually give you ‘super immunity’? – CTV
January 25, 2022
As the COVID-19 pandemic evolves, so does the world’s understanding of how the virus behaves. A recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that someone who has survived a breakthrough infection – meaning they caught COVID-19 after receiving two doses of the vaccine – may have obtained a “super immunity” against the virus.
According to researchers, the antibodies produced in those infected with COVID-19 after vaccination were up to 1,000 per cent more effective in protecting against severe disease, compared with vaccinated people who were not infected with the virus.
Dr. Lisa Barrett is an infectious disease specialist and professor at Dalhousie University in Halifax. In this situation, she said, an increased antibody response is expected.
“That’s how your immune system works,” she told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview on Thursday. “In people who have normal immune responses, it is completely expected that after your vaccines, if you get exposed to [COVID-19] and get what’s called a ‘breakthrough infection,’ you would see soaring antibody levels.”
