February 20, 2022. A Systematic Review That Shows At Least Equivalence Between Natural Immunity and Vaccination for COVID-19

This article is a systematic review and pooled analysis of clinical studies that compares the protection of natural immunity in the COVID-recovered against the efficacy of complete vaccination in the COVID-naive, and the added benefit of vaccination in the COVID-recovered, for prevention of subsequent SARS-CoV-2 infection. The study was published in october 2021 and the search period was December 1, 2020, to August 31, 2021.

The study shows that while vaccinations are effective for protecting against infection and severe COVID-19 disease, natural immunity in COVID-recovered individuals is, at least, equivalent to the protection afforded by complete vaccination of COVID-naïve populations. There is a minor benefit to vaccination in COVID-recovered individuals. Therefore, vaccination of COVID-recovered individuals should be subject to individualized decision between physician and patient.

Keep in mind that this study and the studies it systematically reviews were done before the omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 disseminated all over the world