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Officials from the World Health Organization said at a press conference on Friday that there are some reports from South Africa indicating that people who had previously been infected with COVID-19 are being reinfected with variant strains.
“We are now receiving reports of people being reinfected with a new variant of the virus and there have been some initial reports from South Africa suggesting that people who have had a previous infection could become infected again,” Dr. Soumya Swaminathan said in a press meeting informative on Friday.
However, Swaminathan said that so far, it appears that those who have been reinfected with variant strains have avoided a severe case of the virus the second time.
“It’s a similar story with the vaccine actually; we are learning about protection against vaccines and one thing that is clear is that most of the clinical trials that have been reported so far; there is clear protection against serious illnesses requiring hospitalization and death, ”Swaminathan said.
The 501V2 variant of COVID-19, a variant of the disease first detected in South Africa, is one of several variants of the virus currently spreading around the world. While there is some concern that COVID-19 vaccines are less effective against those variants, Swaminathan cautioned that the variants should not be cause for panic.
Swaminathan noted that while vaccines have seen a drop in efficacy against the 501V2 variant, no hospitalizations or deaths have been reported among those who had contracted the strain but had already been vaccinated.
“Vaccines protect against serious illness, although they may not fully protect against infection or mild illness,” he said. “So at this point, the risk-benefit of using these vaccines, of course, is much more towards the benefit than the risk.”
Swaminathan also encouraged anyone who has contracted the virus or has been vaccinated to continue wearing masks and social distancing, noting that it is still possible to contract the spread of the disease without knowing it.
“Until we know more about this, it is important that people, even after vaccination, take precautions, wear a mask, wash their hands and maintain physical distancing,” Swaminathan said. “Even if you have an asymptomatic infection, you are not going to get sick from getting the vaccine. But, you could still carry the virus in your nose and spread it to other people. “
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