Fauci says studies show people who have had Covid and get vaccinated may have more protection against variants

People who have had Covid-19 and later got vaccinated may have more protection against highly contagious variants, White House chief medical officer Dr. Anthony Fauci said Wednesday.

Fauci cited a study published in late April that found that after one dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, people with prior coronavirus infections had better immune responses against B.1.1.7 and B.1.351, the variants first identified in the U.K. and South Africa, compared with those who hadn’t had Covid.

He cited an additional study, which was published online and not yet peer-reviewed, that found people with prior infections who were later boosted with two doses of an mRNA vaccine had “increased protection” protection against variants.

The studies provide more evidence on the benefits of getting vaccinated, Fauci said.

“Vaccines are highly efficacious,” Fauci said during a White House Covid briefing. “They are better than the response you get from natural infection.”

His comments come amid the Biden administration’s push to get 70% of U.S. adults partially vaccinated and 160 million adults fully vaccinated by the Fourth of July, a date the administration hopes will be a turning point in the pandemic.

In recent weeks, the pace of individuals receiving their first vaccine doses has fallen, though U.S. health officials say they are working to improve access to the shots as well as encourage more hesitant Americans to get vaccinated.

Earlier Wednesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a new report that projected Covid-19 cases would surge through May before sharply declining by July as vaccinations drive down infections.

Highly contagious variants, namely the highly contagious B.1.1.7 first identified in the U.K., remain a wild card, U.S. health officials said, urging Americans to get vaccinated and practice pandemic safety measures.

“We are seeing that our current vaccines are protecting against the contaminant variants circulating in the country. Simply put, the sooner we get more and more people vaccinated, the sooner we will all get back to normal,”  CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said during the press briefing.