Can You Get COVID-19 Back-to-Back? Yes, Here’s When and Why

COVID-19 is here to stay. You or a loved one may have gotten sick with COVID once or even several times. COVID vaccination continues to provide protection against COVID illness. 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. Here’s what to know about how common it is to get multiple COVID illnesses in quick succession. 

How soon can you get COVID again after recovering?

You develop immunity to the COVID virus after a COVID illness. But that immunity only lasts for a few months and is strongest against the COVID variant that you got sick with.

In the past, new variants of COVID were constantly emerging. So people were more likely to get sick with COVID back-to-back because their previous illness may not have given them strong enough immunity to new variants.

Right now, almost all cases of COVID in the U.S. are caused by the omicron variant. But reinfection still happens. Omicron variants pass easily from person to person, making them more infectious. And omicron variants can also bypass your body’s natural immune response to prior COVID illness.

Data shows that the time between COVID infections ranges from 90 to 650 days, with most reinfections happening after 1 year.  

Can you get COVID twice in a month?

This is very unlikely, but in theory it’s possible. People at highest risk for getting a reinfection so quickly are those who have health conditions that weaken their immune system. 

If you get COVID twice, are the symptoms the same? 

Like many things about COVID, scientists are still learning more about what happens when you get reinfected. Early on in the COVID pandemic, studies showed that people who got reinfected tended to have milder symptoms than they had with their first infection. And some people may have no symptoms at all with reinfection. 

More recently, a 2024 study noted that people who got sick with COVID within 3 years of their first COVID illness had similar rates of severe COVID illness. That means people who experienced severe symptoms the first time they had COVID were likely to develop severe symptoms when they got COVID again. And the reverse was also true: People who experienced mild symptoms with their first COVID illness were more likely to report mild symptoms with COVID reinfections. 

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And it seems that some symptoms of COVID may be changing. For example, with recent COVID variants, fever has become less common than it was at the start of the pandemic. Scientists are still working to understand exactly how reinfections affect symptoms, severity, and risk of long COVID.

If you’re not vaccinated, are you at higher risk of getting COVID twice?

The COVID vaccines train your immune system to recognize and fight the virus that causes COVID. They help prevent serious illness, hospitalization, and other complications from COVID. Even if you’ve already had COVID, vaccination helps prevent COVID reinfection and lowers your risk of developing long COVID.

Getting vaccinated can also help protect people around you. By being vaccinated yourself, you’re less likely to spread COVID to others. 

You should be fully recovered from your COVID infection before getting the vaccine. 

Are new strains of COVID resistant to the current vaccines?

The newest COVID vaccines have been updated to target the latest variants and offer protection where it’s needed most. However, breakthrough infections can still happen.

The COVID virus continues to change and form new variants. This means it can go undetected by your immune system. Plus, the antibodies you make in response to the vaccine also decrease over time.

But if you do get a COVID infection, being vaccinated with the the current vaccine helps prevent severe illness, hospitalization, and death from the virus.

How to prevent COVID reinfection

Preventing COVID reinfection is just as important as preventing the first infection. Reinfection can lead to serious illness for yourself and for others who may have weakened immune systems. 

To prevent reinfection with COVID, continue to:

• Stay up to date on your COVID vaccines.

• Consider wearing a face mask in crowded places, especially if indoors.

• Avoid close contact with people who might have COVID.

• Wash your hands multiple times a day.

• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth (especially with unwashed hands).

There's no way to completely prevent COVID reinfection. But taking steps to support your immune health will also help. This includes getting plenty of quality sleep, doing regular physical activity, and following a nutritious diet.

Why trust our experts?

Written by:

Michael Dreis, MD

Dr. Dreis is an emergency medicine physician currently practicing in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He went to medical school at the University of Wisconsin – Madison and completed his residency at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan.

Edited by:

Alex Eastman, PhD, RN

Alex Eastman, PhD, RN, is a California-based registered nurse and staff medical editor at GoodRx, where he focuses on clinical updates and Latino health.

Reviewed by:

Patricia Pinto-Garcia, MD, MPH

Patricia Pinto-Garcia, MD, MPH, is a medical editor at GoodRx. She is a licensed, board-certified pediatrician with more than a decade of experience in academic medicine.

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