As government agencies push people to get vaccinated even if they’ve already had COVID, evidence is piling up that previously infected persons have a long-lasting immunity — possibly lifelong.
According to an article in the journal Nature, “People who recover from mild COVID-19 have bone-marrow cells that can churn out antibodies for decades.” It’s possible that the viral variants going around right now could “dampen” some of the protection, but the journal still says that people who had SARS-CoV-2 “will probably make antibodies against the virus for most of their lives.”
This is a positive follow-up to hints in early 2021 that the immunity could last at least five months, and possibly longer. At the time in one study by Public Health England, only 44 of 6,614 previously infected persons caught the virus again.
In numbers, this means that previous infection gives 94% protection against reinfection and 83% reduced risk for all infections, Daily Mail reported.
SOURCES:
Nature May 27, 2021
Nature June 14, 2021
National Institutes of Health January 26, 2021
Daily Mail January 14, 2021
Forbes June 14, 2021