While getting COVID-19 does generate some immunity, Sharp advises against relying on a previous infection for future immunity. Being infected with COVID-19 and getting vaccinated are not the same thing.  “If you get infected with the virus, the virus has, as part of its biology, ways to suppress your immune system,” Sharp said. “Yes, you will generate antibodies so that you can defeat the virus and survive, but some of those factors that the virus has may have effects that diminish the ability to have long lasting immunity.”