You might wonder how many times can you get COVID-19. That line from the movie Mean Girls comes to mind: The limit does not exist. 

“Think about it this way: There’s no set number of how many colds you can get over your lifetime. I can’t say, ‘I’ve gotten a cold 10 times in my lifetime. There’s no way I’m not going to get it 11 times,’” Dr. Duggal explains. “The same is true of COVID-19. If you get exposed to a new variant, the risk of reinfection is always there.” 

The reason is that while some viruses, like chickenpox, stay relatively the same over time, the COVID-19 virus is more like the flu virus. It’s a master of self-preservation and mutation.  

After your body successfully fights off a variant of COVID-19, or gets the COVID-19 vaccine, your immune system can spot the offending virus when it tries to come back. It kicks out the virus like a bouncer on patrol for a troublesome club-hopper. 

If that customer returns wearing sunglasses and a fake mustache a few months later, though, the bouncer may not recognize them and will open up the velvet ropes to usher them into the party. That’s how it is when the COVID-19 virus mutates. It changes itself just enough to slip by your body’s defenses undetected. 

If you’re vaccinated and following all the recommended safety measures, Dr. Duggal says your risk of reinfection is lower. And thankfully, if you get COVID-19 again, it’s likely going to be less severe. “But we have to be mindful that having been infected doesn’t give you immunity from other variants. You can’t bank on that,” he adds.