The concept of “natural immunity” has been a rallying cry for anti-vaxxers—but a new study released by the CDC shows that the vaccine is more protective than a previous coronavirus infection. In fact, those who did not get vaccinated but had recently contracted the virus were five times more likely to be reinfected than people who had not been infected before they got the shot. “The data demonstrate that vaccination can provide a higher, more robust, and more consistent level of immunity to protect people from hospitalization for COVID-19 than infection alone for at least 6 months,” the CDC said.
