A vaccine expert on Friday, Jan. 21, strongly discouraged the public not to deliberately expose themselves so they will get infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the hopes of getting natural immunity against coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

“I don’t think the doctors will say na ‘yes, magpa-expose kayo para magkaroon kayo ng natural immunity’ (I don’t think the doctors will say that ‘yes, you should get yourselves exposed’ so you can get natural immunity),” Vaccine Expert Panel (VEP) Chair Dr. Nina Gloriani said during a “Laging Handa” public briefing.

This warning against deliberate infection came after a new study showed that unvaccinated people were supposedly better protected compared to those who were vaccinated and not previously infected during the last surge of COVID-19 cases driven by the Delta variant in the US.

“Kung ma-e-expose kayo ay dahil nangyari lamang pero hindi dahil nagexpose kayo talaga, hindi ‘yung sasadyain (If you will get exposed, this should happen naturally and not to do it deliberately),” Gloriani said.

Gloriani added that deliberate infections may do more harm than good to people who are hoping to acquire natural immunity against COVID-19.

The public was also warned against deliberate infections because these may lead to severe forms of COVID-19 infection and possible death.

“Mabuti kung ang breakthrough infection ninyo ay mild hanggang moderate siguro, magkakaroon kayo ng boosting ng immunity, pero kung magiging severe ‘yun, hindi ‘yun maganda, so hindi natin titingnan na magpapa-infect na lang tayo (It should be fine if your breakthrough infection is mild to moderate because you will have boosting of immunity, but what if that it will be a severe disease? This is not good so we do not get yourselves infected voluntarily),” she added.

Gloriani explained that while those who will contract COVID-19 may get natural immunity, they are also exposing themselves to a possible “hybrid immunity” which may happen after a vaccinated person tested positive for COVID-19 and survived.

She noted that a person with good immunity or has a good general health status may recover if the symptoms are mild but this may not be the case for those who are immunocompromised or those that have comorbidity.

“Baka hindi ‘yan mild but ma-ospital, critical care or mas masahol pa, baka mamatay (This may not be mild and they can be hospitalized, put under critical care or this can even lead to death),” she added.