According to a study released on Wednesday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, when the Delta variant had been prominent in the United States, an earlier case of Covid-19 was found to be more protective than vaccinations during the wave last summer and fall. However, health officials say that immunization is still the safest route to be guarded.
The Study
The study was conducted before and during the time when delta dominated in California and New York, but the information was only collected in November before Omicron took over. Additionally, the study was performed before most participants had received additional or booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines, as per The Hill.
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report published Wednesday refutes public health messages that advocate for vaccinations. In spite of this, medical professionals retain that the shots are the only effective defense against COVID-19’s most lethal effects. At the height of the delta wave last summer, nearly all hospitalized patients were unvaccinated.
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Vaccine Is Still The Safest Route
Viruses are constantly evolving, and new variants can have unique characteristics. Although the prior infection was found to be protective during delta, maybe this isn’t the case with omicron, the agency noted. There is also no indication of how severe an initial infection is, and this analysis does not reflect the risk of severe disease or death from a COVID-19 condition, as per CDC.
“The data clearly shows that vaccination provides the safest protection against COVID-19 and additional protection for individuals who have had a prior infection. In addition, it shows that people who remain unvaccinated are at the greatest risk of hospitalization and death,” a statement from Dr. Erica Pan, state epidemiologist for the California Department of Public Health, as per CNN.
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