A single dose of COVID-19 vaccine is sufficient for an infected person as there was a greater antibody response when compared with those who have had no prior infection, according to a study released by AIG Hospitals on Monday.

The city-based AIG Hospitals recently published a study conducted on 260 healthcare workers, who got vaccinated between January 16 and February 5, in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases (a peer-reviewed journal).

The study was designed to assess the immunological memory response in all those patients.

All patients were given the Covishield vaccine.

The study also said Memory T-cell responses elicited by a single dose of vaccine were significantly higher in the previously infected group compared with those who had no prior infection.

Commenting on the impact that this study can have on the overall vaccine administration strategy, Dr.  D Nageshwar Reddy, Chairman, AIG Hospitals, and one of the co-authors of the study, said the results show that people who got infected with COVID-19 need not take two doses of vaccine as a single dose can develop robust antibody and memory cell response at par with two-doses for those who didnt get the infection.

This will significantly help at a time when theres a shortage of vaccine in the country and more people can be covered using the saved doses, Dr Reddy said.

Once the requisite number of people are vaccinated for achieving herd immunity, these patients who got infected and received only one dose can take the second dose of the vaccine, he further said.

At this point, all our strategies should be directed at the widespread distribution of available vaccines and to include the maximum number of people at least with a single dose, Dr Reddy added.