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Written By: Longjam Dineshwori | Updated : August 9, 2021 8:29 AM IST
One Shot of Pfizer, AstraZeneca Vax Offers 60% Protection Against Covid
If you have had Covid-19, a single dose of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine (BNT162b2) may be sufficient to protect you from re-infection, according to a study published in the JAMA Network Open. The researchers at the Rush University in Chicago, US, found higher SARS-CoV-2 antibody levels in previously infected individuals after first dose of Pfizer vaccine compared with infection-naive individuals after two doses.
Among previously infected individuals with positive SARS-CoV-2 spike immunoglobulin (Ig) G antibody levels , the second dose did not significantly increase IgG levels compared with the first dose. However, participants who reported a positive PCR, but did not develop S-protein antibodies showed similar response to the first vaccine dose as that of the infection-naive group. This means a positive PCR diagnosis alone may not be enough to discount the need for a second vaccine dose.
Overall, the results suggested that one dose may be recommended for previously infected individuals with positive SARS-CoV-2 spike IgG levels, which will help in freeing up availability of millions of additional doses.
