Yes, you can get COVID-19 multiple times (reinfection), even if you've been vaccinated or had it before, but vaccines and prior infection usually offer good protection against severe illness, though this immunity wanes and new variants can evade it, making reinfections common but often milder. Staying up-to-date with vaccines and treatments helps reduce the risk of severe outcomes.
As the virus evolves, new variants with the ability to evade your existing immunity can appear. This can increase your risk of reinfection. Reinfection can occur as early as several weeks after a previous infection, although this is rare.
Anyone can get COVID more than once, but some are at a greater risk. They include: Unvaccinated people. Studies find that unvaccinated people are twice as likely as vaccinated people to get reinfected with COVID-19.
The immune response from a COVID-19 infection usually tamps down after 3-4 months, says Kawsar Talaat, MD, a vaccinologist and associate professor in the Department of International Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland.
But an unlucky group has been hit with reinfection after reinfection. “I've seen a few patients with five infections,” said Dr. Grace McComsey, vice dean for clinical and translational research at Case Western University. “Sadly, they were immunized and they still got Covid five times.”
Those with compromised immunity, a lack of immunization, or who have not used precautionary measures, may have even had multiple bouts of the infectious disease. Even with everything we know about COVID, there is a risk of contracting it more than once, and the consequences could be detrimental to your health.
The COVID virus has more success surviving on hard surfaces, such as glass and plastic, than on porous ones like bedding. Once the virus lands on a porous material like a fabric, the droplets evaporate much quicker than they do on a hard surface.
Immune System Failure
More recent research has concluded that COVID-19 causes dysregulation to both the innate and the adaptive immune systems. Paradoxically, in COVID-19 pneumonia, the innate immune system fails to mount an effective antiviral response while also inducing potentially damaging inflammation.
Other evidence suggests that SARS-CoV-2 reinfection increases risk of postacute, multiorgan sequelae up to 6 months after reinfection, compared with a single infection [5]. Our study extends these findings by examining the relationship between reinfection and common long COVID symptoms.
Virus persists up to two years in tissue
They detected portions of viral RNA for up to two years after infection, although there was no evidence that the person had become reinfected.
An important finding, say the researchers, is that despite reinfection, previous infection still conferred “robust and durable protection against severe COVID-19 with no observed waning in this protection”.
However, COVID-19 can also cause organ damage in individuals without symptoms, who would not fall under the current definition of Long COVID. This organ damage, whether symptomatic or not, can lead to various health impacts such as heart attacks and strokes.
It's not a SARS-CoV-2 reinfection, either. Instead, you're experiencing rebound COVID-19, a brief return of symptoms that starts about two to eight days after you tested negative or stopped feeling sick. You're not alone. As COVID-19 is probably here to stay, here is what everyone should know about rebound COVID-19.
However, breakthrough infections are still possible, even if you've gotten your COVID vaccine. Getting COVID a second (or third or fourth) time is called COVID reinfection. COVID reinfection can happen within several months, so it can feel like you have COVID back-to-back.
Can you be contagious after a negative COVID test? If you test negative with a PCR test, you are likely not contagious. But if you test negative with an at-home test, the answer will depend in part “on whether the negative COVID test is at the beginning of feeling sick or on the way to recovery,” Mina says.
Common Symptoms of the New COVID Variant (2025):
Researchers in Japan have pinpointed a biological cause of Long COVID brain fog using advanced PET brain imaging. They discovered widespread increases in AMPA receptor density linked to cognitive impairment and inflammation.
The average recovery time for those who have mild or normal cases of COVID-19 or flu is between one and two weeks. If you have COVID-19, the CDC recommends isolation from others until your symptoms are getting better and you are fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication.
For many people with COVID-19, fatigue is a fairly common symptom. It can make you feel dull and tired, take away your energy, and eat away at your ability to get things done.
The brain and nervous system
Rather, it seems that the ramped-up immune response leads to clots that could cause brain problems. "A lot of patients have described it as feeling like they have a concussion," McAlpine said. "And it can persist for several months after COVID," even if the initial case was mild.
Symptoms
A study from the University of Southern California has revealed that fasting for 72 hours can trigger a complete regeneration of the immune system.
Throw out all of the trash.
For anyone who is ill in your home, try dedicating a lined trash can for that one person's use. It's a good idea (and a CDC precaution for all cleaning and disinfecting during a time of virus) to wear gloves when you are removing or handling any trash bags.
Use a portable air cleaner or air purifier if you have one
When used properly, air purifiers can help reduce airborne contaminants, including viruses, in a home or confined space.
Particles from an infected person can move throughout an entire room or indoor space. The particles can also linger in the air after a person has left the room – they can remain airborne for hours in some cases.