Natural infection isn't enough to protect against COVID-19, experts say. You still need a vaccine.

As concerned friends and family members try to convince loved ones to get vaccinated, many are met with the argument: "I already got COVID, so I can't get it again."

Health experts say that just isn't true. 

Although antibodies from natural infection may provide some protection against the virus, evidence shows nothing protects against COVID-19 better than vaccines. 

People who have recovered from COVID-19 should get vaccinated to reduce their risk of reinfection, which will prevent transmission and suppress the opportunity for more variants – like the highly contagious delta – to emerge.  

“Natural infection will cause your immune system to make many types of antibodies and immune response to all parts of the virus, but only a small fraction of that response is actually protective,” said Nicole Iovine, chief hospital epidemiologist at University of Florida Health in Gainesville. “When you get the vaccine, the entire response is targeted to the virus's spike protein.”