Out of 751,000 reported COVID cases in Louisiana, only about 8,000 involved someone who had already had the virus, that’s according to State Health Officer Dr. Joe Kanter. Kanter said the low incident rate of reinfection is evidence that natural immunity to COVID is real, and appears to be effective, for a time.
“It’s not for nothing,” said Kanter who said that it’s something to consider for future vaccine mandate policies.
Despite those numbers Kanter warned relying on natural immunity is no substitute for getting vaccinated.
“About a third of people that have a natural infection will not mount any detectable antibody response, and the ones that do, many of them will have their antibody response ween significantly two or three months out.”
Kanter pointed out there’s another flaw in the case for natural immunity over vaccinations; to get natural immunity, you have to get COVID first. Kanter noted it is a highly unpleasant experience that is sometimes fatal and leaves half of everyone who endures it with Long COVID symptoms that can last months or more.
