Thousands of people across the UK will this week start to receive the first Covid-19 vaccination.
400,000 people will get two jabs of the Pfizer vaccine which has now arrived in the country and has been distributed to 50 hubs.
The first jabs will be given from Tuesday, with a second dose at the end of the year - and more vaccines will be given at the start of 2021.
But those who have already had and recovered from Covid-19 may be wondering whether they need to have the vaccine.
Professor Eleanor Riley, Professor of Immunology and Infectious Disease at the University of Edinburgh said it is important you still get vaccinated, reports the Mirror.
She said: “People who have recovered from Covid-19 have varying levels of antibodies, with varying levels of neutralising activity, and thus may be protected for varying lengths of time into the future. Some people may be protected better than others after natural infection.
“Those people who have had Covid-19 are at risk of encountering the virus again – they have encountered it once and will likely do so again. So, it is important that they are as well protected as possible.”
Professor Riley added that the vaccine will likely protect you for longer than the antibodies after Covid-19 infection.
“The vaccines induce very high levels of neutralising antibodies which are thus likely to protect for longer,” she explained.
“So, the vaccine will likely protect for longer than infection in many people, especially people who had mild symptoms who tend to have lower concentrations of antibodies.”
She added: “It is impossible, logistically, to test everyone for antibodies, and measure the precise concentration and function of these antibodies, in order to decide whether they would benefit from vaccination or not.
“It is simply easier, quicker, cheaper and much less risky for everyone to have the vaccine, whether or not they have had (or think they have had) the infection before.”
