It was too tough to become infected for the second time in the early days of COVID, which was about 2020. And it is no longer the same after two years. Many people who have already had the sickness are getting it for the second or third time. According to reports, there are three main causes for this: the first is the sheer number game; the second is the omicron variation; and the third is decreasing vaccine protection.
Number of cases
It’s partly a numbers game. Because so many of us have already been infected, a growing proportion of new infections constitute a recurrence, according to the analysis.
Experts remind out, however, that even if you test positive a second time, you are unlikely to acquire a serious infection. Vaccination or past infection protection is more effective at preventing the virus from entering your body and causing serious harm than it is at keeping the virus out of your nose and throat.
Omicron Variant
The BA.1 and BA.2 Omicron variants are phylogenetically distinct from the preceding strains.
According to a BBC story, these variations give it a better chance of getting past the body’s early defences, which are based on previous Covid infections. It said, “And so, the rates of reinfection have been about 10 times higher this year compared with rates seen earlier in the pandemic.”
Decreasing vaccine protection
With the loss of coronavirus vaccine protection, the risks of COVID reinfection increase. Even the World Health Organization (WHO) has predicted this, which is why we need to get multiple vaccine doses.
“As the pandemic enters its third year, we expect to see some diminishing.” According to WHO’s Maria Van Kerkhove, “it depends on the sort of vaccines you’ve had, the number of doses you’ve had, as well as your age and underlying diseases.”
To conclude
Despite the high number of Covid infections, the current outbreak is putting even fewer people in hospitals than the January outbreak, owing to the fact that so many of us now have a mix of vaccine and past infection protection.
Approximately 55 percent of persons in Covid beds in English hospitals were being treated primarily for their Covid during the month of January’s peak. According to the latest recent estimates, that figure has dropped to around 45 percent as of March 22. In addition, the overall number of persons admitted to hospitals because of Covid is less than half of what it was in January 2021.
The government expects that the spring booster vaccine deployment would help raise immunity among the most vulnerable people, making Omicron’s ability to cause serious illness even more difficult.