How likely are you to be reinfected with Covid?

You might think you have some level of protection, even invincibility, if you've had coronavirus. However, an increasing number of people are reporting subsequent reinfections months or weeks apart. And it seems that some are more likely to get it than others.

A large study that continues to track reinfection, React, tested thousands of volunteers in England.

It turned out that some are more likely to be reinfected. The results so far have revealed that healthcare workers and families where there are children or many people under one roof are at greater risk of reinfection.

The study also found that two-thirds of those who contracted Omicron had already had covid.

Am I more likely to have it if I've had Covid before?

No one is completely immune from contracting Covid. And if you already had it, you can get it again. One study found that people infected with SARS-CoV-2 can be reinfected within one to two years unless they take precautions such as vaccinations and wearing masks. .

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But with newer, more transmissible variants, people who have had covid can catch it much sooner, even if they are fully vaccinated and boosted.

As the React study showed, people who live in families with multiple members or key workers can be particularly susceptible, which is part of why there are so many cases today among parents of school-age children.

If you don't fall into these categories, you can expect some degree of immunity for some time, generally understood to be 90 days.

Will Covid be less severe the second time around?

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This is where vaccines come in. Scientists around the world agree that the vaccine offers some protection against severe symptoms. With many people vaccinated against the virus, reinfection has been mild.

But of course, it depends on the person. Virologist Jonathan Stoye, from the Francis Crick Institute in London, points out that the severity of covid varies greatly from person to person and can vary from one infection to another in the same person. Factors such as the initial dose of the virus, possible differences between disease variants, the amount of viral load, and changes in a person's overall health can all affect the severity of reinfection.

Can I get Covid more than twice?

While a covid infection gives you antibodies to fight the virus, contracting covid multiple times is not out of reach. But the official line is to get vaccinated so that if you get infected again, you are likely to face less severe symptoms and side effects.

At the moment, general UK data does not record reinfection, so it is difficult to say how many people experience it for the first time and later.

But that will change from the end of January, when the data collection registers this difference.

What we do now will have an impact on the timeline and severity of the situation.

Experts suggest that people's behaviour as we potentially approach the shift from pandemic to endemic disease will determine how and when we get there. Vaccination, better ventilation, masking, and social distance in times and places where transmission is high — all of these initiatives are still vital.