Fully vaccinated individuals who have previously had Covid prior to getting their vaccine have greater protection against the virus, according to new research.
According to researchers, this suggests people who are fully vaccinated on top of a previous infection are likely to maintain higher levels of protection from Covid for a longer period of time compared to those who were not infected prior to their vaccination.
The study used data from vaccines which were logged between December 8 2020 to July 31 2021 as well as data from when the Delta variant became dominant in the UK.
Findings were also comprised of more than 1.2 million tests which found that previous infection without vaccination gave only 65% of protection.
Compared to this, it is said that protection against the virus is increased by 94% if the individual has had the vaccine as well as the virus with the Zoe Covid study also finding that two doses of Oxford/AstraZeneca provided 71% protection against infection up to six months after vaccination, while protection was increased to 90% among those who previously tested positive for the virus.
This increased for those with two doses of Pfizer/BioNTech jab which is said to give 80% protection up to six months after vaccination, which increased to 94% with a previous infection.
Professor Tim Spector, of King’s College London – a lead scientist on the Zoe Covid study app, said: "Regardless of which vaccine is administered, this latest research shows that having a natural Covid-19 infection before double vaccination does mean greater protection.
"This is really positive news for overall immunity levels in the UK and means that large numbers of people will have effective and long lasting protection from Covid. This is also strong evidence to support the need for vaccination, even for those who have already had Covid."
He added: "When it comes to a booster jab, it’s my opinion that if you’re not in one of the eligible groups for a booster yet, but have a previous infection and two vaccines, you shouldn’t be too worried as your protection will be very high.
"It’s likely that there will be high levels of uptake in those who are double vaccinated and are invited for a booster, so it’s more important we focus on those who remain unvaccinated, which is still too high, and we are quickly falling behind the rest of Europe."
