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Covid-19’s back. Who’s most likely to get it again?
A new study of prison populations shows vaccination can ward off infection, but only up to a point, and that masks and ventilation could make the difference.
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The researchers found that hybrid immunity did the best job at protecting people from getting Covid-19.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Lisa Jarvis
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A new study is offering data to back one of the core assumptions about the spread of Covid-19: The intensity of exposure to the virus matters, and vaccines and prior infections can only help so much – but they do indeed help.
The research, led by scientists at the Yale School of Public Health and published in the Nature Communications journal, also reinforces the common-sense notion that masks and air filtration can augment the protection provided by a vaccine and lower the risk of getting the virus. Anyone watching Covid-19 cases bubble back up in their community should take that to heart: Infections are not unavoidable, and the tools we have been using to protect ourselves are not just intuitive – and certainly should not be controversial. They are increasingly backed up by evidence.
