Had COVID-19? Get vaccinated anyway

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2021-09-21 12:31

International

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If you’ve already had COVID-19, it’s still worth getting the vaccine, suggests international research. The team looked to see how well the virus was neutralised by antibodies from people who'd been vaccinated, people who'd been infected, and people who'd been both vaccinated and infected. And to really put these antibodies to the test - they developed a version of the virus spike protein with 20 specific mutations that made it more likely to escape the immune response. They found that people who were vaccinated or those who'd had COVID-19 were no longer able to neutralise this super spike protein, but people who'd been both infected and vaccinated had antibodies that could neutralise it. Since it’s not ideal to become infected with COVID-19, researchers suggest looking at whether booster jabs can create the same broad response is important. They also suggest using this highly mutated spike protein to create vaccines may be one way to help broaden the immune response.