A new study out of McMaster University in Hamilton, shows some seniors were not protected from getting COVID-19 again, even if they’d previously had the Omicron variant.

According to the study, vaccinated seniors in long-term care and retirement homes who had been infected with Omicron variants in early 2022 were about 20 times more likely to be re-infected with another variant later that year.

That’s in comparison to seniors who had been vaccinated but had not been infected.

Senior author of the study, Dr. Dawn Bowdish, says the results are surprising because they challenge the current thinking about hybrid immunity.

She suggests people should stay up-to-date with their COVID-19 vaccinations and not assume a previous infection is protecting them.