How Long Does Immunity Last After COVID-19? What We Know

For those who recover from COVID-19, new research shows immunity to the virus can last for at least 5-7 months, and may last much longer.

Understanding how our immune system responds to the virus is an important step in vaccine development.

Several promising vaccines are in development, but until they’re available we must use tools like physical distancing and mask-wearing to keep transmission down.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s been a push to develop a vaccine against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. If scientists can do that quickly, and while we slow the spread of the disease, it’s believed that we can limit deaths by achieving herd immunity.

While scientists have been working hard on many fronts to understand the virus and develop controls for it, there’s still much we don’t know about immunity after recovery from COVID-19, including how long it lasts. Knowing how long immunity lasts is important in creating vaccination protocols What we currently know about COVID-19 immunity.

However, a study says  that people who recover from even mild cases of COVID-19 produce antibodies that are believed to protect against infection for at least 5 to 7 months, and could last much longer. “We conclude that neutralizing antibodies are stably produced for at least 5-7 months after SARS-CoV-2 infection,” the team of researchers, wrote in their report.

Though the study’s finding are promising, the researchers have not checked to see if any of the people they tested were exposed to the virus again and if the antibodies they produced were sufficient to protect them from reinfection. Prior to this latest test, that work had been done by research team, as well as others, showing that antibodies against the virus are maintained for at least 3 months.

Their study also suggested that immunity could last much longer. Memory cells give our immune system memory of previous microbial invaders, allowing it to have a quicker, stronger response the next time we encounter them. What this means is that if people are reexposed to the virus, these cells, along with antibodies, will likely protect people from symptoms and further transmission.