Dr. Anthony Fauci was interviewed on CNN earlier this week and was asked why those who have recovered from COVID still need to get the vaccine.
CNN’s Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta brought up a study from Israel that reported people who have previously been infected with the virus and have natural immunity are much less likely to become infected, need hospitalization, or die from COVID compared to those who have never had COVID but have 2 doses of Pfizer.
The study also showed that people previously infected were more protected after getting one dose of the Pfizer vaccine.
Gupta asked Fauci if those people should get the vaccine and how he plans to convince them to do so. Fauci responded, “You know, that’s a really good point, Sanjay. I don’t have a really firm answer for you on that”. “That’s something that we’re going to have to discuss regarding the durability of the response”, he added.
Fauci pointed out that the Israel study doesn’t mention how long natural immunity lasts. “What’s the durability compared to the durability of a vaccine?”, he asked.
He then went on to say “It is conceivable that you got infected, you’re protected, but you may not be protected for an indefinite period of time”.