With Omicron Variant Of COVID, Reinfection Is Common — And Not Painless

Remember “15 days to slow the spread,” the campaign by then-President Donald Trump to stem COVID?

Yeah, that didn’t work.

And now, even Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. immunologist, acknowledges COVID vaccines “don’t protect overly well” against infection or, worse, re-infection (although he does say they help lessen the severity of the symptoms from the virus).

While right around 80% of Americans got fully vaccinated against the virus, according to the Centers of Disease Control and Protection (CDC), most were for the original version of SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID. But since then, some 11 variants and subvariants have come along. The latest, known as BA.5, now accounts for 65% of all new cases, with BA.4 causing more than 15% of cases, the CDC said Wednesday.

And that has led to people getting the virus more than once. As of June 8, more than 1.6 million reinfections have occurred across 24 states, a recent ABC News analysis showed. But experts say the data is lacking and the number of reinfections is likely much higher.

“These are not the real numbers because many people are not reporting cases,” Dr. Ali Mokdad, an epidemiologist with the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation in Seattle, told ABC News.

New studies are also showing that antibodies from vaccines — and even those created by a previous infection — don’t offer much protection against the latest subvariant BA.5.

While there have been conflicting reports, with some scientists saying BA.5 is not as bad as other strains while others say it’s worse, what’s clear is that even mild reinfections can be dangerous.

A study posted online in June that had not yet been peer-reviewed found that reinfection adds “non-trivial risks,” including death, hospitalization, and other possible side effects after the infection.

Study co-author Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, an assistant professor at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, explained what that means to Time magazine. He said reinfection brings new risks: “If your risk was X,” after the first time someone contracts the virus, “it’s X plus Y” for the second infection.

The pharmaceutical company Moderna on Monday announced that the initial tests of its COVID booster specifically targeting BA.4 and BA.5 show it is more effective than previous shots.

And the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this week recommended producing new COVID vaccines to target the Omicron variant. By a 19-2 vote, the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee approved a plan to have new vaccines ready by early October.

Joseph Curl has covered politics for 35 years, including 12 years as White House correspondent for a national newspaper. He was also the a.m. editor of the Drudge Report for four years. Send tips to [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @josephcurl.