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The World’s Leading Authority for Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Patients

After having COVID-19, would my natural immunity be sufficient?

This content was current as of the date it was released. In science and medicine, information is constantly changing and may become out-of-date as new data emerge.

Ask the Doctor Question:

I had COVID-19 in 12/2020 and spent five days in the hospital.  Would the vaccines decrease my chance of getting the Delta virus or would my natural immunity be sufficient?  Possibly a booster instead?

Answer: We are glad to hear that you made it out of the hospital. Yes, if your body mounts a robust response to the COVID-19 vaccine, it provides a very good amount of protection against becoming reinfected with the Delta variant (and hopefully any future prominent variants as well). Natural immunity to COVID-19 is not predictable at all in healthy individuals, and even less so in the immunocompromised.

At this time, CLL Society is encouraging all chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients to become fully vaccinated with the COVID-19 vaccine unless otherwise directed by their healthcare team. And fully vaccinated now means a three-shot series.

We would encourage you to take a look at a couple of the articles we just wrote on the booster shots, as well as a question-and-answer document we have been receiving in a question-and-answer document. Please consider getting your Spike protein antibody levels checked four weeks after you receive your last shot in the series. Here are the links for both of those articles: