Key TakeawaysPreliminary evidence suggests that there is an increased risk of reinfection with the Omicron variant.Cases of COVID-19 reinfection remain relatively rare, and should they occur, they tend to be less severe than the initial infection.Reinfection may be uncommon 90 days after the initial infection, but it’s still important to get your vaccine and booster shots.

Key Takeaways

Preliminary evidence suggests that there is an increased risk of reinfection with the Omicron variant.Cases of COVID-19 reinfection remain relatively rare, and should they occur, they tend to be less severe than the initial infection.Reinfection may be uncommon 90 days after the initial infection, but it’s still important to get your vaccine and booster shots.

So you got COVID-19 once. Can you get it again? Unfortunately, you can, and with the emergence of the Omicron variant, many fear that COVID-19 reinfections may become more common.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), COVID-19 reinfections are to be expected based on our knowledge of other coronaviruses. This means that any individual who has recovered from COVID-19 can get infected again.

We’re still learning more about COVID-19 and it’s not yet entirely clear how well previous infections protect against Omicron. Here’s what we know so far.

A Fourth Vaccine Dose May Not Boost Protection Against Omicron, Early Data Shows

Is Reinfection More Likely With Omicron?

According to the World Health Organization, it’s possible that there is an increased risk of reinfection with the Omicron variant.

“Early studies from across the world suggest that the Omicron variant is distinct enough from the original ancestral SARS-CoV-2—[the virus that causes COVID-19]—strain to increase the probability of reinfections,”Julio Silva, MD/PhD candidate, and student researcher in the Department of Immunobiology at the Yale School of Medicine, told Verywell. “The quantity of this here in the United States is an active point of investigation.”

The probability of reinfection may depend on many factors, Silva said, such as:

A comparative study published inThe New England Journal of Medicinefound that reinfections had a 90% lower risk of hospitalization and death than primary infections. Out of the 1304 cases of reinfection the researchers studied, there were four severe cases and no critical or fatal reinfections.

“Reinfection remains relatively rare,”Daniel Bachmann, MD, emergency medicine physician at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, told Verywell. “Accordingly, it is possible that mild or asymptomatic cases are not being reported and thus our understanding is somewhat incomplete.”

Although cases of reinfection are rare, it’s important to continue taking appropriate precautions such as mask-wearing, physical distancing, and vaccination to reduce the transmission of the virus.

What This Means For YouIt is uncommon to get reinfected for about 90 days after your initial COVID-19 infection. However, to maximize your protection against the virus and reduce the risk of reinfection, you should get vaccinated or get your booster shot as soon as you are eligible for it.

What This Means For You

It is uncommon to get reinfected for about 90 days after your initial COVID-19 infection. However, to maximize your protection against the virus and reduce the risk of reinfection, you should get vaccinated or get your booster shot as soon as you are eligible for it.

Can You Get Reinfected Immediately?

According to the CDC, reinfection is uncommon during those 90 days after your initial COVID-19 infection.You’re unlikely to get reinfected for some time because you have probably developed at least some level of natural immunity. Some studies show immunity that lasts for five to 12 months.

When you have COVID-19, the body produces antibodies against the virus, which protects against reinfection. If your body’s immune system is compromised or diminished, it may not produce many or any antibodies in the first place. You are at risk for another infection as the level of antibodies decreases, Bachmann said.

“As with vaccination, reinfections tend to increase with increasing time since your first infection,” Silva said. “That is, the more time that has passed since the previous infection, the more likely it is to have reinfection. However, these occurrences are still very rare.”

If You’re Unvaccinated, COVID Reinfection Is Likely

“There is some limited data that shows vaccination after infection reduces risk of reinfection,” Bachmann said. A study published inCellconcluded that two doses of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines are not enough to neutralize the Omicron variant; therefore, a booster dose is needed.We have yet to know what this means for reinfection.

Overall, getting a booster shot helps you maximize your immunity against COVID-19, and it’s best to have all the protection you can get.

An initial COVID-19 infection likely provides a strong local memory immune response in the body, and a booster dose may give it an additional memory boost to prolong the time before the antibody levels decrease, Silva noted.

The information in this article is current as of the date listed, which means newer information may be available when you read this. For the most recent updates on COVID-19, visit ourcoronavirus news page.

9 Sources

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Reinfection with COVID-19.

World Health Organization.Statement – Update on COVID-19:Omicron is gaining ground: Protect, prevent, prepare.

Pulliam JRC, van Schalkwyk C, Govender N, et al.Increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection associated with emergence of the Omicron variant in South Africa.medRxiv. 2021. doi:10.1101/2021.11.11.21266068

Abu-Raddad LJ, Chemaitelly H, Bertollini R.Severity of SARS-CoV-2 reinfections as compared with primary infections.N Engl J Med. 2021;385(26):2487-2489. doi:10.1056/NEJMc2108120

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Answering patients’ questions about COVID-19 vaccine and vaccination.

Milne G, Hames T, Scotton C et al. Does infection with or vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 lead to lasting immunity?.The Lancet Respiratory Medicine. 2021;9(12):1450-1466. doi:10.1016/s2213-2600(21)00407-0

Cavanaugh AM, Spicer KB, Thoroughman D, et al.Reduced risk of reinfection with SARS-CoV-2 after COVID-19 vaccination — Kentucky, May–June 2021.MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2021;70:1081-1083. doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm7032e1

Garcia-Beltran WF, St. Denis KJ, Hoelzemer A, et al.mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine boosters induce neutralizing immunity against SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant.Cell. Published online December 23, 2021. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2021.12.033

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