Covid Vaccines Protect Better Than Earlier Infection, CDC Says

(Bloomberg) -- A new study offers more evidence that Covid-19 vaccines provide stronger protection against hospitalization than immunity from an earlier infection, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday.

Hospitalized patients who weren’t vaccinated but had been previously infected with Covid were about five times more likely to test positive for the infection than people who had been vaccinated, according to the CDC study.

The CDC has long recommended that people get vaccinated even if they have already had Covid-19.

“We now have additional evidence that reaffirms the importance of Covid-19 vaccines, even if you have had prior infection,” CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said in a statement. “This study adds more to the body of knowledge demonstrating the protection of vaccines against severe disease from Covid-19.”

The study of 7,000 adults hospitalized with Covid-like symptoms compared how many tested positive for the virus with rates of vaccination and prior infection.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.