Locals catching COVID-19 multiple times

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - Vaccinated or not, testing positive for COVID-19 twice, maybe three times is becoming more common. It's debunking what many people thought was true - if you catch COVID-19 it would protect you from getting it again.

This doesn't seem to be the case anymore.

“It's like the common cold. You can almost be guaranteed that one of these Winters' you will get a cold and the cold could be from the same virus you had been exposed to in the past, got sick from before.”

Dr. Bharat Magu with Yuma Regional Medical Center explains why we need to focus on how the virus continues to mutate over time.

“Especially as the new variants arise, the previous immune responses will become less effective in combating the virus,” Dr. Magu said.

Many locals also chimed in on our KYMA News 11 Facebook page about their repeat diagnoses.

Maggie Perez, diagnosed with COVID twice, is one of many who commented. The first time she contracted it was earlier in the pandemic and was sick for 12 days with a fever of 104.

“I had headaches, body aches, chills, diarrhea, I lost my sense of taste my sense of smell. I was just feeling horrible,” Perez explained.

Now she’s fully vaccinated and boosted, but just last week, symptoms rolled around again.

Although, not like what she went through the first time.

"Totally different like I had nothing practically nothing I only had like a sore throat body ache for just like a little bit," Perez said. “I do believe that those vaccines they did help because like I said, I noticed a big difference between the two,” she added.

The CDC thinks the most robust protection is seen in people who were both vaccinated and had previously been diagnosed with the virus.

Medical staff on the frontlines are contracting the virus now more than ever. Dr. Magu tells News 11, some have experienced COVID multiple times as well.