If you’ve had Covid-19 here’s what you need to know about vaccines, variants, and more

Scientists aren’t surprised that the coronavirus changes and evolves – it’s what viruses do, after all. And with so much uncontrolled spread across the United States and other parts of the world, the virus is getting ample opportunity to do just that.

So far, three variants have been identified circulating around the world and receiving a lot of attention: variant B.1.1.7 was first identified in the United Kingdom, variant B.1.351 was first identified in South Africa, and variant P.1 was the first. identified in Brazil.

During the same briefing, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said that every Covid-19 case in the United States should now be treated as if it were caused by one of the newly identified coronavirus variants.

Another reason the risk of reinfection remains somewhat of a mystery is because it remains unclear how long Covid-19 antibodies can persist in your body.

How long will my antibodies last?

“What we know is that when someone gets infected with Covid-19, they get antibodies that last,” Crespo said. “But now the new science that is emerging is that some of the coronavirus variants can evade the antibodies and potentially be infectious to someone who was already infected with a known variant of Covid-19.”

“Those who developed reinfection had asymptomatic infections,” Smith said in her email. Smith added that anecdotal evidence from her hospital’s experience managing Covid-infected health workers suggests that antibodies likely protect against reinfection.

“To date, about 0.5% of health professionals have experienced re-infections, although we recognize that they have not systematically checked for Covid antibodies, as in the Oxford study,” said Smith, who was not involved in the study.

According to a new study led by Public Health England, people infected with Covid-19 will likely be protected from re-contraction for at least five months.

But researchers cautioned that the protection was not absolute, meaning some people contracted the virus again, and it was unclear how long immunity lasts. It is also possible that those who have some degree of immunity to the virus can still carry the virus in their nose or throat and therefore pass it on to others.

Should I get the vaccine if I’ve had Covid-19?

Health officials and doctors are encouraging people who have had Covid-19 to get vaccinated anyway. Data from late-stage clinical trials suggested the vaccines are safe and helped protect people with previous Covid-19 infections from reinfection. This was regardless of whether their previous case was mild or severe.

“Even if someone had natural Covid-19, my recommendation is to get vaccinated as soon as a vaccine is available to you,” said Smith.

“It is very clear that the two available vaccines provide a high level of protection, as measured in neutralizing antibody titres. This may be especially important for people with asymptomatic or mild infection,” she said. “If you have a higher level of antibody titres to begin with, you are protected longer.”

Smith added that the Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, authorized for emergency use in the United States, appear to provide some protection against the emerging coronavirus variants circulating around the world.

“We’re not sure if natural immunity will protect anyone from being infected with the new strains,” Smith said.

However, someone who is currently sick with Covid-19 should wait to get the vaccine after the symptoms disappear and they can get out of isolation. There is no recommended minimum time between infection and vaccination.

There are also no safety data on people who have received antibody therapy or restorative plasma to treat Covid-19 infection. Since reinfection seems uncommon in the 90 days after initial infection, the CDC recommends that the person wait at least 90 days as a precaution.

There is no data showing that a vaccine would protect someone recently exposed. A person will not be fully protected until one or two weeks after they receive the second dose of the vaccine.

Do I need both doses of the vaccine?

It is currently recommended that people follow that vaccination schedule until more research is conducted and health officials recommend otherwise.

“The concept of giving only one booster vaccine to those who have had a natural infection has been advanced as a way to maintain the limited supply of vaccine and make it available to those who have never developed a Covid infection,” said Smith.

“It makes sense that people who have had a Covid infection are likely to start with a baseline of a detectable neutralizing antibody, so you don’t start all over again like people who have never had Covid,” Smith said.

“However, the amount of neutralizing antibodies decreases over time, so this must be carefully studied before being rolled out,” she said. “We would need data to determine the optimal timing of the booster against natural infection and whether the duration of protection is equivalent to the protection you get from two doses of vaccine.”

Smith added that coronavirus variants would also remain a risk.

“We are also uncertain about variant strains and how well antibodies developed by natural infection will protect someone from a new strain. Vaccines have been tested and offer protection based on limited data,” said Smith. “Finally, this approach would require patients to have antibodies tested before inoculation, and this may not be readily available to everyone.”

Can I still experience sustained effects from Covid-19?

Many Covid-19 survivors may experience symptoms for weeks or months.

“Patients may experience persistent severe fatigue, headache, ‘brain fog’, mild cognitive impairment / trouble thinking or concentrating, joint pain, cough, shortness of breath, intermittent fever, changes in taste and smell, among other symptoms,” said Smith. “These persistent symptoms can last for up to 12 weeks, and many say the symptoms ease and diminish or come and go during that time.”

Whether you have persistent Covid-19 symptoms may depend on the severity of the illness you have.

“Some people have mild symptoms and recover quickly and have no major problems. One of the side effects we’ve seen very often is chronic fatigue,” said Crespo.

“It appears that in patients with Covid-19 it is one of the most common symptoms that can last for several months,” he added. “Even if patients have had significant lung disease with severe pneumonia, they may have trouble recovering from that persistent shortness of breath, coughing and getting tired easily.”

Crespo added that even if you have persistent effects, it’s still important to get the Covid-19 vaccine when it’s your turn.

“They need to get the vaccine,” he said. “I don’t see that having any lasting effects would have any particular effect on the response to the vaccine.”