ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Experts say the decline in COVID-19 cases can be attributed not only to vaccine immunity but, due to the large number of people who have caught the virus and recovered from it, also to natural immunity.

But new data is showing that people with the highest level of protection from COVID-19 and its future variants are people who have both types of immunity.

According to the journal, Science, and the Rockefeller University in New York, people who received a vaccination after catching COVID-19 — people with hybrid immunity — may have the longest lasting and widest range of protection.

For one couple, the release of this data also brought some peace of mind, especially with the holidays right around the corner.

Frank Boyce and his husband David are already decorating for Christmas.

Their house is notorious when the holidays roll around, so to keep up the fame and flair, the work started two weeks ago.

But for them, Christmas is about much more than decor.

"Joy, just, um, miracles, and feeling like a little kid again," said Boyce.

He said his heart is feeling a bit lighter this year.

Last year, he got sick with COVID-19, and Christmas looked and felt a little different.

"Yeah, last year was really hard," Boyce said. "I have long-hauler, where I've never had a migraine before in my life, and at a drop of a dime I could get a migraine. I now see a neurologist."

He got the vaccine as soon as he could after recovering.

Now, according to new data, he could be among those best protected against future infection.

Recent evidence is showing that for people like him — who got sick and then later got vaccinated — the immune response from the vaccine was very robust, because the memory cells from their initial COVID-19 infection were already in their system.

For Boyce, this immunity is the ticket back to see loved ones during the holidays.

"We're looking forward to seeing our friends this year," he said. "We couldn't see our family last year. We couldn't get together for Thanksgiving, couldn't get together for Christmas."

This season will still bring the reason behind their endless amount of lights.

"We know every light is, we've dedicated to a COVID patient lost," Boyce said. "So even a year later, the numbers still climb, but we just take one day at a time."