Perhaps no aspect of the public health response to COVID has increased my skepticism more than the insane and dogged practice of ignoring the immunity that people can gain from having and recovering from COVID-19.  Whether researchers conclude that it is insufficient, too brief, or whatever, credibility required that it be treated as a real thing, and it wasn’t.

Unfortunately for them, information has a way of getting out:

Immunity people enjoy after recovering from COVID-19 is better than the protection bestowed from vaccination, according to a new study from Israel.

Researchers analyzing data from the county’s health database from August to September found both COVID-19 infections and severe disease were higher among the vaccinated than those who recovered from the illness, also known as people with natural immunity.

For instance, the naturally immune had a 10.5 per 100,000 infection rate four to six months following their recovery, versus a 69.2 per 100,000 rate among the vaccinated.

I’ve been pointing out for months that naturally acquired immunity appears to be stronger than vaccination, but that vaccination improves odds even more if you’ve recovered from the virus.  But (again) the numbers are so low that having had it, being vaccinated, or being young and fit are all sufficient.