Should You Get The Covid Vaccine If You've Already Had Covid? A Doctor Answers

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It's no secret that the coronavirus has been on all our minds A LOT since the pandemic started spreading in the US last year. And as we enter 2021, the new vaccines are bringing hope… but also more worries for some. 

That's why we asked physician and host of "The Doctors," Dr. Ian Smith to answer commonly asked questions about the Covid-19 vaccines — like how safe is the Covid vaccine and how does the Covid vaccine work.

He also explained the CDC's current recommendations for who should get the Covid vaccine and when. But what about people who have already had Covid… do they still need to get vaccinated? According to Dr. Ian, the answer is yes — and here's why it's so important.

Should People Who Have Already Had Covid Get The Covid Vaccine? 

"Just because you have had Covid-19, does not mean you don't need the vaccine. You still need the vaccine," Dr. Ian says. "Because we don't know how effective your immune response from that first infection actually is or how long you have left." Right now, we don't know how long the antibodies will last.

Does The Vaccine Protect Against New Strains of The Virus? 

As far as the new strain of the virus that seems to be more contagious, we don't know if having had the virus will protect you against this new strain, Dr. Ian says. "We're talking about all these variants — all these strains that are variant strains now — here in the US, abroad. Viruses mutate all the time. They change the genetic appearance all the time."

"So far, it looks like the vaccine is going to still protect us for all these variants. But this is why we have to be fast. Because we don't want the virus to mutate so much that it then falls out of protection zone of the vaccine. Which is why we need to get people to get the vaccine now."

Dr. Ian also wants people to know that just because you got vaccinated or just because you got Covid in the past, that doesn't mean that you can't transmit it any longer. You can still carry the virus and pass it on, even without symptoms.

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