A recent study out of South Africa indicates that the Omicron variant has a “substantial ability to evade immunity from prior infection.” Researchers do not yet have clarity on whether the Omicron variant can also evade vaccine-induced natural immunity.
Natural immunity is the protection a person gains from a virus after already being infected by it.
Based on COVID variants studied prior to Omicron’s discovery, the CDC stated that both fully-vaccinated and previously infected people have “a low risk of subsequent infection for at least six months.”
Yet, when it comes to which type of immunity is more protective, there are conflicting reports.
The CDC cited studies, including a Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report involving more than 7,000 people, that found unvaccinated people previously infected were 5.5 times more likely to have COVID-19 than those who were vaccinated and had never been infected before.
However, a study out of Israel indicated the opposite. Vaccinated people were up to 13 times more likely to have COVID than their unvaccinated, previously infected counterparts were, according to the researchers. The study has not been peer-reviewed yet, and it was conducted using data from over the summer, when Delta was the predominant variant in Israel.