# Immunity after getting COVID should fulfill vaccine requirements **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [January 23, 2022, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immunity-after-getting-covid-should-fulfill-vaccine-requirements/958258 "2022-01-23T03:25:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 25
**Author:** ![Tfletch1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tfletch1/32/5340_2.png) [@Tfletch1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tfletch1)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2022, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immunity-after-getting-covid-should-fulfill-vaccine-requirements/958258/481 "2022-07-29T19:30:12Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > They are aiming for releasing the omicron booster in September, so you’re in good shape. I meant to say to delay the omicron booster a couple of months from when they release it. Maybe take it in November instead of September. Assuming I now have some additional BA.5 immunity in addition to my original strain immunity from my four vaccines. ---
**Author:** ![Esprise\_Me](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/esprise_me/32/2947_2.png) [@Esprise\_Me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprise_Me)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2022, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immunity-after-getting-covid-should-fulfill-vaccine-requirements/958258/482 "2022-07-29T19:35:02Z")
I know we’re accustomed to thinking of winter as cold and flu season, but that may be changing, if the last few years are any indication. I’ve personally decided not to try to play stock market guru and just get every shot as soon as I’m eligible. But your doctor may have different thoughts. ---
**Author:** ![Tfletch1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tfletch1/32/5340_2.png) [@Tfletch1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tfletch1)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2022, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immunity-after-getting-covid-should-fulfill-vaccine-requirements/958258/483 "2022-07-29T19:41:00Z")
That’s true. I usually get my flu shot at the end of October to prepare for a winter peak. I suppose I can get my covid booster at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2022, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immunity-after-getting-covid-should-fulfill-vaccine-requirements/958258/484 "2022-07-29T22:06:55Z")
I usually wait and get my flu shot in November. The flu vaccine is a relatively poor vaccine, and immunity wanes pretty quickly from it, too. So i like to get it to optimize for peak flu season, which is November thru late February, usually. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2022, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immunity-after-getting-covid-should-fulfill-vaccine-requirements/958258/485 "2022-08-01T01:09:44Z")
From the CDC: When should I get vaccinated against flu? “It’s best to be vaccinated before flu begins spreading in your community. September and October are generally good times to be vaccinated against flu. Ideally, everyone should be vaccinated by the end of October. However, even if you are not able to get vaccinated until November or later, vaccination is still recommended because flu most commonly peaks in February and significant activity can continue into May.” [Who Needs a Flu Vaccine | CDC](https://www.cdc.gov/flu/prevent/vaccinations.htm#:~:text=When%20should%20I%20get%20vaccinated,by%20the%20end%20of%20October). ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2022, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immunity-after-getting-covid-should-fulfill-vaccine-requirements/958258/486 "2022-08-05T00:06:05Z")
Well good because it’s pretty clearly pointless to keep giving people who aren’t elderly or immune compromised the original vaccine when it only boosts immunity a few weeks. Efforts are much better spent on getting a vaccine formulated towards current variants into people, especially when those people have grown tired of getting shots in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2022, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immunity-after-getting-covid-should-fulfill-vaccine-requirements/958258/487 "2022-08-08T14:11:05Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Well good because it’s pretty clearly pointless to keep giving people who aren’t elderly or immune compromised the original vaccine when it only boosts immunity a few weeks. pessimistic"A few weeks" of enhanced immunity is a bit… "[Research collected during the omicron wave](https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7107e2.htm?s_cid=mm7107e2_w) and published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that about two months after a Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna booster shot, the vaccine’s effectiveness against hospitalization was around 90 percent. Four months out, it was about 80 percent, which top infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci, M.D., says “is still a good protective area.” ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2022, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immunity-after-getting-covid-should-fulfill-vaccine-requirements/958258/488 "2022-08-08T14:29:37Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > “A few weeks” of enhanced immunity is a bit…[pessimistic](http://aarp.org/health/conditions-treatments/info-2022/booster-shot-immunity.html). > > "[Research collected during the omicron wave](https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7107e2.htm?s_cid=mm7107e2_w) and published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that about two months after a Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna booster shot, the vaccine’s effectiveness against hospitalization was around 90 percent. Four months out, it was about 80 percent, which top infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci, M.D., says “is still a good protective area .” In many discussions about vaccine efficacy, people on opposing sides of a debate will commonly evaluate vaccines on completely different grounds and thus will speak right past each other. For some, stopping COVID infections cold – the way a thick windowpane stops a sparrow – is the one and only meaningful measure of vaccine efficacy. For others, prevention of COVID infirmity\*\* after infection is the one and only meaningful measure of vaccine efficacy. I find myself general falling in the latter camp. What the COVID vaccines really seem to do is make the inevitable COVID infections safe to endure. Might get COVID, might even get it a bunch – but you’ll (more than probably) skate through every time if your vaccinations are updated. … \*\* _“infirmity” here meaning “all results from mild symptoms to immediate death, considered as a collective whole”._ ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2022, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immunity-after-getting-covid-should-fulfill-vaccine-requirements/958258/489 "2022-08-08T14:40:48Z")
It’d be nice if people stopped repeating misleading and flat-out false claims about Covid vaccines. “They don’t prevent infection” - yes they do, just not perfectly. “They don’t stop transmission” - yes they do, even if it’s less than 100%. “Vaccinated people can still wind up in the hospital or even die from Covid-19” - yes, but their odds of bypassing those consequences are _way_ better what the unvaccinated face. It’s too bad we don’t teach about the [Nirvana fallacy](https://www.logicallyfallacious.com/logicalfallacies/Nirvana-Fallacy) and fill in other gaps in critical thinking in elementary school. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2022, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immunity-after-getting-covid-should-fulfill-vaccine-requirements/958258/490 "2022-08-08T14:42:04Z")
I recently spent a few days in the hospital because of an infected arm/elbow. I had contracted COVID about a week earlier, and although I was essentially over it, other than a lingering every-now-and-then cough, I tested positive on the PCR test, so they chucked me into the COVID unit, complete with negative pressure rooms, full PPE, etc… I basically had to warn off all the nurses and doctors that no, I wasn’t in there for COVID, but for the arm infection. And making chit-chat with the nurses, it turned out that about half of the patients in the COVID unit were there in the same situation as me- fully vaccinated and boosted, but who just _happened_ to test positive while at the hospital for something else. The other half was basically unvaccinated people who were extremely ill with COVID. They said there really wasn’t a middle ground- vaccinated/boosted people with serious COVID was just about unheard of, but that they still got a pretty large number of unvaccinated people who were deathly ill. Later on, I was talking with the infectious disease dr., and I commented that I didn’t even realize it had been COVID- I wondered, but since I never really got anything beyond a minor cough and maybe an afternoon of feverishness, it just didn’t seem serious enough to be COVID. The dr said that for the vaccinated/boosted, that’s typically how it goes, and that’s the “gotcha”- it doesn’t seem serious enough to take that seriously. I’m guessing it was Omicron BA.5 that I got, considering it would have been right around July 14-15 or so when I was infected. So I got it, but it was super-mild. I kind of wish they (TPTB) would communicate that- maybe you’ll get Omicron, but if you’re vaccinated, it’s unlikely that you’ll even be all that sick. I mean, I had the actual flu (Flu-A) back in April, and that was far worse than COVID was. Dramatically worse; this was not even as bad as a typical cold. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2022, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immunity-after-getting-covid-should-fulfill-vaccine-requirements/958258/491 "2022-08-08T15:58:42Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I recently spent a few days in the hospital because of an infected arm/elbow. I had contracted COVID about a week earlier, and although I was essentially over it, other than a lingering every-now-and-then cough, **I tested positive on the PCR test, so they chucked me into the COVID unit, complete with negative pressure rooms, full PPE, etc** … I am curious if there will ever be a time in the near future (say, within 5 years) when the bolded is no longer done? ---
**Author:** ![Tfletch1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tfletch1/32/5340_2.png) [@Tfletch1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tfletch1)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2022, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immunity-after-getting-covid-should-fulfill-vaccine-requirements/958258/492 "2022-08-08T15:59:20Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > In many discussions about vaccine efficacy, people on opposing sides of a debate will commonly evaluate vaccines on completely different grounds and thus will speak right past each other. > > For some, stopping COVID infections cold – the way a thick windowpane stops a sparrow – is the one and only meaningful measure of vaccine efficacy. A lot of vaccines against respiratory illnesses do not provide sterilizing immunity. Some flu vaccines have very low efficacy against infection. Same with the Strep. pneumonia vaccines. This is only emphasized in the covid vaccines because so many people are testing even with slight symptoms. In the past, you would never know you had a certain infection. That would have happened to me. My covid symptoms were no more intense than a minor cold. I would never have known I had covid if I didn’t have package of tests. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2022, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immunity-after-getting-covid-should-fulfill-vaccine-requirements/958258/493 "2022-08-08T16:21:11Z")
I don’t know. I was a little bit annoyed, in that I probably wouldn’t have tested positive with the antigen tests (i.e. not contagious), since it had been about 9 days since I first showed any symptoms, but the PCR tests can show positive for a long time after that. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2022, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immunity-after-getting-covid-should-fulfill-vaccine-requirements/958258/494 "2022-08-08T17:16:11Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > [Research collected during the omicron wave](https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7107e2.htm?s_cid=mm7107e2_w) and published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that about two months after a Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna booster shot, the vaccine’s effectiveness against hospitalization was around 90 percent. Four months out, it was about 80 percent, which top infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci, M.D., says “is still a good protective area While true is there a meaningful difference in hospilization rates of non-immune compromised people under age 50 who have had 3 shots of the original vaccine vs 4? That’s what we’re talking about here, just younger people healthy enough to not yet be offered a 4th shot on-label. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immunity-after-getting-covid-should-fulfill-vaccine-requirements/958258/495 "2022-08-11T15:07:23Z")
Anecdotally, I’ve heard/experienced that 3 shots are still effective. My wife and I were boosted back in September or October of last year, and got COVID in May/July respectively. Neither of us had anything approaching serious symptoms. For that matter, neither of us had symptoms that approached normal, garden-variety influenza (which we both got in April). When I was in the hospital for my arm infection, I was still testing positive for COVID, so I was in the COVID wing, and the nurses there said that pretty much everyone who was actually _sick_ with COVID was unvaccinated, and all the vaccinated people were there for other reasons(like me), but were just testing positive. Same thing from the infectious disease dr. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immunity-after-getting-covid-should-fulfill-vaccine-requirements/958258.md?page=24)