Antibodies are like Skittles, according to Dr. Kim Repp, chief epidemiologist for Washington County Public Health Division. In an interview with OPB, she addressed the question of whether or not someone who has recovered from COVID-19 needs to be vaccinated.
“Let’s say I get infected by the green Skittle,” Repp said. “Now I do have immunity to the green Skittle. Unfortunately, there are 24 other colors of Skittles that I am not immune to.”
With 25 different strains of the virus out there, you would need to become sick with each of them individually, then get better from each, in order to be fully immune. You would also have to hope that no new variants come about.
There is also the question of reinfection from the same variant. According to Dr. Hiram Martinez of Houston Methodist, immunity is not a simple thing, and is not universal.
According to Martinez, a “recent study found that not only can a person get COVID-19 a second time, reinfected individuals can carry significant amounts of the virus without showing any symptoms — raising concern about inadvertent transmission of the virus during reinfection.”
What would the doctors do?
“I go and get the vaccines. I am now protected from the green Skittle and 90% of everything else,” Repp said. “So it [having recovered] does, or could, give you a little one up over being fully vaccinated if your strain wasn’t represented in the vaccine, which is possible. Unlikely, but possible.”
So, from both doctors we get the same advice – regardless of whether or not you have had COVID, the vaccines will keep you and those around you healthier. Or, as Repp says, “Get all the Skittle flavors.”
By Sally K Lehman
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