COVID infection history as good as having vaccine certificate, say experts

Pune: Proof one's had COVID - an RT-PCR or antibody test report - should be considered a good enough alternative to just a vaccination certificate as infection too grants protection, a group of health experts told TOI on Tuesday.

In fact, insisting on only vaccination certificates, at this stage in the pandemic, is a needless burden on the system and can lead to harassment of citizens, they said.

The opinions were part of a recent joint statement by the Indian Public Health Association (IPHA) and the Indian Association of Preventive and Social Medicine (IAPSM). Both IPHA and IAPSM formed a joint task force on COVID in April 2020, to advise the government on containment.

But as COVID enters its fourth year, these experts said resources now be diverted to improve measures such as wastewater surveillance and genomic sequencing.

"There's now evidence to show natural infection provides longer protection than vaccines. There's even data that suggests natural infection may provide lifelong immunity. But there's no evidence to show vaccines alone provide better immunity than natural infection," said Dr Sanjay Rai, IPHA's national president and professor at the Centre for Community Medicine at AIIMS, Delhi.

Dr Rai said the community's current protection level is because of a combination of natural and vaccine-induced immunity, called hybrid immunity.

"If this hybrid immunity wall is helping us, then equal importance should be given to test reports that confirm natural infection. So those who've recovered from COVID, and have lab-confirmed reports, should be allowed entry everywhere, just like those who only have vaccine certificates," Dr Rai said. He added that despite the fact COVID vaccination is voluntary, many states continue to ask for certificates.