Should individuals who have been infected with SARS-CoV-2 still be vaccinated against COVID-19?

22 Mar 2021

What the research says:

Research indicates that following SARS-Cov-2 infection the majority of individuals develop an immune response although the extent of immunity is not clear and infection control methods should continue to be employed. An initial antibody response appears to decline over weeks following an active infection as would be expected. Infection also appears to stimulate a robust T cell response that may provide long lasting immunity. The duration of immunity following COVID infection has been shown to extend to at least 6 months and research is ongoing to address this question.

What this means for your clinical practice:

COVID-19 vaccination should be offered to all eligible individuals according to local guidance, regardless of prior SARS-CoV-2 infection status.
As the degree of immunity provided by previous SARS-CoV-2 infection is not clear all patients, regardless of prior infection status, should be advised to continue to observe social distancing and infection control measures according to local guidance.

Useful links and supporting references:

Huang AT, et al. A systematic review of antibody mediated immunity to coronaviruses: antibody kinetics, correlates of protection, and associated of antibody responses with severity of disease. Nature Comms 2020;11:4704. Available at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-18450-4. Accessed March 2021.

Plüddemann A, Aronson JK. What s the role of T cells in COID-19 infection? Why immunity is about more than antibodies. Available at: https://www.cebm.net/covid-19/what-is-the-role-of-t-cells-in-covid-19-infection-why-immunity-is-about-more-than-antibodies/. Accessed March 2021.

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Respiratory conditions

COVID-19

Respiratory topics

Vaccination

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IPCRG COVID-19 and respiratory Q&A

Disclaimer

Page last reviewed on the date shown above.

The content is drawn from the references listed above. Wording has been adapted for clarity and applicability for the primary care context. The content does not imply direction by the IPCRG nor does it form a position of the IPCRG on this subject. The content may be adapted as new evidence arises. This content is advisory; it is intended for general use and should not be regarded as applicable to a speciﬁc case.

The International Primary Care Respiratory Group produces a range of answers to questions raised by our Sentinel Network for clinicians working in community settings. These are called the IPCRG Questions and Answers. Where possible, these are published using Creative Commons licences under the Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike CC BY-NC-SA licence. This licence lets others remix, tweak, and build upon our work non-commercially, as long as they credit IPCRG and license their new creations under the identical terms. This enables member countries to adapt and translate for use in their country. Further information on the fine print can be found by reading the Legal Code. We would appreciate it if you would ask your colleagues to visit our site to obtain documents, rather than you sending them copies. By doing this they will be better able to understand and accept the CCL. The IPCRG Answer Review Group coordinates the views of primary care colleagues with specific regard to these answers. The views expressed in these answers are not necessarily those of the International Primary Care Respiratory Group. Should any author have a conflict of interest in regard to an answer, then this will be clearly stated in the answer document.

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Should individuals who have been infected with SARS-CoV-2 still be vaccinated against COVID-19?

What the research says:

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Useful links and supporting references:

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