FACT FINDERS: Omicron’s natural immunity versus vaccine immunity

TUCSON, Ariz. (KOLD News 13) - When it comes to omicron, is natural immunity better than vaccine immunity? Turns out, that may not be a simple answer.

There are a lot of discussions and studies going on right now about natural immunity and vaccine immunity. Dr. Saman Nematollahi with the University of Arizona says, with what we know right now, if you had Omicron and recovered it looks like your protection against the Omicron variants is much better than those who just got the vaccine. However, when you look at how you would fare against other variants, it is a different story.

”Looking at their cells and comparing them to other variants they don’t have as much protection. And so, this is really more of a variant specific immunity, meaning more immunity against Omicron; whereas, when you get the vaccine not only do you have protection against Omicron, but you have potential protection against all the other variants that could potentially come afterward,” he said.

Speaking of other variants, the CDC says before Delta, it seemed the vaccine was working better than natural immunity. However, once Delta took hold, natural immunity was found to be more protective than vaccination. To see their full report, click here.

The CDC also notes, vaccination is the safest way to protect yourself against COVID-19.

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