If you come down with COVID-19 and recover, do you still need to get vaccinated?
Absolutely, according to Dr. Kim Repp, chief epidemiologist with the Washington County Public Health Division.
She uses a bag of Skittles as an analogy.
“Let’s say I get infected by the green Skittle,” Repp said. “Now I do have immunity to the green Skittle. Unfortunately, there are 24 other colors of Skittles that I am not immune to.”
“The vaccine gives you 90% of what’s left,” Repp said. “If you get vaccinated, you get all the Skittle colors too.”
OPB has been asking people what they want to know about COVID-19, including vaccines, which prompted us to reach out to Repp. (You can submit your questions here.) One of the questions we received came from Gabriel, who asked: “Why haven’t we heard anything about immunity from having the virus? It seems like nobody wants to talk about it, and it’s either vaccine or nothing.”
Repp’s response: “It’s because it’s only giving you immunity to that very specific strain that you had and none of the others.”
To be as immune as possible, you simply have to taste the whole rainbow and get vaccinated, with a vaccine that protects against other strains, as well.
Repp spoke with OPB Morning Edition host Geoff Norcross. Some highlights from their conversation:
Norcross: Does getting the virus give you immunity from the virus?
Dr. Kim Repp is the chief epidemiologist for the Washington County Public Health Division.
WCPHD / Courtesy Kim Repp
Repp: Yes, with caveats. So let’s think of coronavirus as a bag of Skittles. There are 25 different colors of Skittles out there in the world right now. (I had to look this up.) So let’s say I get infected by the green Skittle. Now I do have immunity to the green Skittle. Unfortunately, there are 24 other colors of Skittle that I am not immune to. The vaccine gives you 90% of what’s left.
Norcross: Does getting COVID-19 give you any protection from future variants of the virus?
Repp: No, getting natural immunity from an infection does not at all protect you from other strains or variants. However, let’s say I’m still infected from the green Skittle. I go and get the vaccines. I am now protected from the green Skittle and 90% of everything else. So it does, or could, give you a little one up over being fully vaccinated if your strain wasn’t represented in the vaccine, which is possible. Unlikely, but possible.
Norcross: What if somebody had both? They got COVID-19 but they also got the shots? Are they extra super protected?
Repp: Yes, assuming what you are infected with is not represented in the vaccine, which may or may not be true. There are hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of variants, so it’s hard to say. But yes, you would have a little extra protection from natural immunity, but at the risk of hospitalization and death. That is avoidable with the vaccine.
Norcross: So for somebody who had gotten COVID-19 and gotten better, and is confronted with this question of whether or not to get the shot, your advice?
Repp: Get all the Skittle flavors and go get vaccinated.
Click on audio player at the top of this story to hear the full conversation.
Do you have questions about COVID-19? Submit them here.
