Covid infection gives natural immunity for at least a year

A Covid infection will give you natural immunity for at least a year—and it could be much longer.

Only those who haven’t had the infection should be prioritised for vaccination, say researchers from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health.  

They monitored the antibody levels of 173 healthcare workers who had had Covid-19, and were surprised their immune response markers were still high a year later.  The researchers think that natural immunity can last even longer, possibly for several years.

Earlier studies had suggested natural immunity lasts only for a few months.

Most significantly, antibodies that recognise the novel spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus were still high in 61 percent of the group nine months after the initial infection, and these people had the greatest protection from a second infection.  Just four of the group suffered a second Covid infection, including one with low levels of the ‘anti-Spike’ antbodies who suffered asymptomatic symptoms.

Most of the group had suffered a mild or moderate infection, although several needed hospital care.  Those who had been in hospital or who suffered ‘long Covid’ symptoms of occasional fevers, or loss of smell or taste had the highest antibody levels after nine months.

“People who have not been infected should be prioritised for vaccination, since those who have already been infected may be protected for at least a year,” said Anna Ramirez-Morros, one of the researchers.

(Source: BMC Medicine, 2021; 19: doi: 10.1186/s12916-021-02032-2)

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