Initial study: Those infected with COVID after 1st vaccine should get 2nd dose

An initial study focusing on hundreds of Israeli healthcare workers has found that people infected with COVID-19 shortly after receiving their first Pfizer vaccine dose have similar protection to those who have got one vaccine dose and haven’t been infected — meaning they should get a second vaccine dose.

The study, by researchers from Bar-Ilan University and Ziv Medical Center, shows that even though getting a single vaccine shot after being infected with COVID-19 yields particularly high antibody levels, that doesn’t work the other way around.

The lead researcher, epidemiologist Prof. Michael Edelstein, is therefore recommending an additional vaccine dose for those who got infected after their first shot.

But he admits the study “was conducted on a small cohort,” and that therefore more comprehensive research is needed to confirm or refute the finding.