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Daily Record
Daily Record
Health
Jasmine Norden & Ketsuda Phoutinane & Richard Blackledge

Fully vaccinated people who catch Covid may have 'super immunity'

Fully vaccinated people who get Covid may gain "super immunity", according to a new study.

Researchers found that people who catch coronavirus after getting jabbed might have more antibodies than those who did not have Covid.

Scientists also discovered antibodies in infected people's blood were up to 1,000 percent more effective, Yorkshire Live reports.

Oregon Health & Science University's study looked at 26 fully vaccinated healthcare workers who later got Covid and comparing them with jabbed people who had not tested positive.

The findings come after the risk of reinfection from Omicron was found to be 5.4 times greater than with Delta, according to Imperial College London.

However, Imperial researchers found "no evidence" of Omicron being less severe.

Fully vaccinated people with Covid may gain "super immunity" (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

The US researchers emphasised that the study relied on a relatively small sample.

Those who had caught Covid after full vaccination saw a larger increase in antibodies than those just fully vaccinated - this was despite participants only having fairly mild cases of Covid.

"You can't get a better immune response than this. These vaccines are very effective against severe disease," said researcher Dr Fikadu Tafesse, an assistant professor of molecular microbiology and immunology in the OHSU School of Medicine.

Dr Tafesse said: "Our study suggests that individuals who are vaccinated and then exposed to a breakthrough infection have super immunity.

"We have not examined the Omicron variant specifically, but based on the results of this study we would anticipate that breakthrough infections from the Omicron variant will generate a similarly strong immune response among vaccinated people."

Dr Marcel Curlin, OHSU associate professor of medicine, added: "It doesn't mean we're at the end of the pandemic, but it points to where we're likely to land: once you're vaccinated and then exposed to the virus, you're probably going to be reasonably well-protected from future variants.

"Our study implies that the long-term outcome is going to be a tapering-off of the severity of the worldwide epidemic.

"The key is to get vaccinated. You've got to have a foundation of protection."

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