Researchers at Bar-Ilan University and Ziv Medical Center presented preliminary evidence that people previously infected with coronavirus responded positively and strongly to a dose of the Pfizer vaccine, regardless of when they were infected and whether or not they had detectable antibodies before being inoculated. .
The study was conducted on a group of 514 employees at Ziv Medical Center in Safed, 17 of whom were infected with COVID-19 between one and 10 months before receiving the first dose of the vaccine.
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A member of the medical team receiving the coronavirus vaccine at Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv
(Photo: Yariv Katz)
The antibody levels of the group were measured before and after receiving the injection to determine the response to the vaccine.
The response among those previously infected was so effective that it opens the debate whether a dose of the vaccine may be sufficient in certain situations.
“This discovery can help countries to make informed decisions about vaccine policy – for example, whether those previously infected should be vaccinated with priority and, if so, with how many doses,” said Prof. Michael Edelstein from the Bar-Ilan University School of Medicine, who conducted the study.
“It also offers a guarantee that having no detectable antibodies after infection does not necessarily mean that post-infection protection is lost,” he says.
However, the researchers emphasized that their findings must be confirmed in a larger cohort before reaching definitive conclusions.
Researchers continue to monitor healthcare professionals after the second dose to better understand how long the vaccine will protect against COVID-19 in different groups of people.
France recommended on Friday that people who have recovered from Covid-19 should receive a single dose of the vaccine, making it the first country to issue such guidance.