Recovered coronavirus patients should still get the vaccine, experts say

Researchers have found that roughly 90% of patients show residual immunity to the coronavirus 8 months after they recover from COVID-19. However, most epidemiologists recommend that recovered individuals still receive the vaccine. Former CDC director Thomas Frieden noted on Twitter that at least one health system is asking workers who recovered to let others go first when it comes to getting immunized. Meanwhile, researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder found that New York needs to vaccinate 1 in 5 older adults in order to bring death rates down by 73%. That same result would be achievable by immunizing 1 in 6 people if priority is given to people who do not already have antibodies to the virus, according to Kate Bubar, a PhD student in applied mathematics and quantitative biology, who co-authored the study. Some experts are reluctant to discourage anyone from getting the vaccine if they are eligible, especially because of some people’s reluctance to get vaccinated. In Santa Rosa County, FL, only about 40% of emergency responders who are eligible to receive the vaccine have been immunized or signed up to do so, and in New York, roughly 30% of health care workers have declined the vaccine.