Healthcare

COVID-19 Could Reinfect Old People Who Aren’t Vaccinated, Study Shows

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While the majority of people who have had COVID-19 are protected from reinfection for at least six months, older people – already more susceptible to the virus – are far more prone to contract it again, according to a study published Wednesday.

The Danish study, pubished in the Lancet medical journal, found that only 0.65% of people tested positive again after previously contracting the virus. However, it also found that people 65 and older had just 47% protection against repeat infection, compared to an 80% protection rate for younger people.

“Our study confirms what a number of others appeared to suggest,” said Steen Ethelberg of Denmark’s Statens Serum Institute. “Reinfection with COVID-19 is rare in younger, healthy people, but the elderly are at greater risk of catching it again.”

“Since older people are also more likely to experience sever disease symptoms, and sadly die, our findings make clear how important it is to implement policies to protect the elderly during the pandemic,” he added.

The study’s authors found no evidence that protection against reinfection declined over six months, but additional studies were needed to evaluate protection against the growing number of coronavirus variants.

The data used in the study was collected through Denmark’s national testing strategy, where approximately 4 million people, or 69% of the country’s population, were tested throughout 2020.

Two British immunologists said that natural protection against the virus was “poor” when compared to the response generated from the coronavirus vaccines, urging people to receive them when available.

“The hope of protective immunity through natural infections might not be within our reach, and a global vaccination program with high efficacy vaccines is the enduring solution,” they said.