Vaccinations offer better protection against COVID-19 than immunity from a prior infection, health officials have said. A new study by CDC has concluded that unvaccinated people who had contracted the virus months earlier were five times more likely to contract it again than fully vaccinated people who did not have any prior infection. 

The study analysed data from nearly 190 hospitals in nine states. The researchers counted 7,000 adult patients who were hospitalised this year with respiratory illnesses or symptoms similar to those of COVID-19. It was concluded that about 6,000 of them had been fully vaccinated with the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines three to six months before getting hospitalised. 

The remaining 1,000 were unvaccinated but had been infected with the deadly virus.

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Dr Mike Saag, an infectious disease expert at the University of Alabama at Birmingham who was not involved in the study was quoted by The Associated Press, “These data show, pretty strongly, that the vaccines are more protective against symptomatic Covid.”

Saag deemed the research as convincing. He also said that it is important information for parents as the government is now expanding its vaccination campaign to more children.

“There have been many people who have advocated, ‘Well, let’s just let the kids get infected.’ I think these data support the notion that the vaccines work better in general, and likely work better for 5- to 11-year-olds,” Saag said.