Srinagar: Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) Monday said people who have recovered from Covid-19 infection should also get vaccinated for the infection.
In a statement, DAK President Dr Nisar ul Hassan said those who have contracted the disease should also get inoculated two weeks after their recovery.
“Earlier, individuals who tested positive for the virus required to wait for 3 months between recovery and vaccination. However, that has changed now.”
Under the new guidelines, he said, Covid-19 patients only need to wait for 2 weeks to get the shot.
He said people who recover from Covid-19 are getting infected with the virus again. “We were under the impression that if a person gets infected with the virus, he/she will develop antibodies and will not get the disease again. “But, many people who recover from Covid-19 do not develop antibodies,” he said adding “even those who mount adequate antibody response, their antibodies fade within a few months and they become susceptible again.”
“Some have a second bout of Covid-19 as soon as one month after their first infection and some people have been hospitalised and even died,” he said, adding, “and, the new variants put the recovered patients at risk of reinfections.”
The DAK president said that people who have recovered from Covid could get infected with a mutated strain of the virus.
“Natural immunity from the infection is simply far too unreliable in the face of such a devastating virus,” Dr Nisar said.
He said vaccines generate much stronger and more consistent immunity than the natural infection.
“There is evidence that vaccine induced immunity lasts much longer than immunity built by contracting the virus. Vaccines have been found to be effective against the variants too,” he added.
“A new study showed that vaccination after infection produced six times more antibodies than a vaccine by itself. That means administering vaccines to recovered persons will further strengthen their immune response and make them well protected,” said Dr Hassan.
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