Elderly are more likely to catch COVID-19 a second time, study finds
Laura Italiano
March 18, 2021 (New York Post) – People over 65 who have recovered from COVID-19 have a 50 percent higher chance of a second attack within six months of their first illness, a new study has found.
The odds are much better for younger, healthier people, but still not a sure thing, according to the Danish study, which was published in the Lancet medical journal.
About 80 percent of healthy people under age 65 did not suffer a second attack within six months of a first COVID-19 illness, according to the study, which looked at 4,000 test subjects.
The study shows that it remains important for people who have recovered from COVID-19 to get the boost of immunity provided by vaccination — and to continue with masking, hand-washing and social distancing protocols.
“Our study confirms what a number of others appeared to suggest: reinfection with COVID-19 is rare in younger, healthy people, but the elderly are at greater risk of catching it again,” Dr. Steen Ethelberg from the Statens Serum Institute in Denmark said in the study.