BREAKING | Nov 17, 2020, 

04:14pm EST | 436,221 views

Coronavirus Immunity May Last

Years, Possibly Even Decades,
Study Suggests
Tommy Beer Forbes Staff
Business

TOPLINE Immunity to the novel coronavirus may last eight months or longer,
according to a new study authored by respected scientists at leading labs,
which found that individuals who recovered from the coronavirus developed
“robust” levels of B cells and T cells (necessary for fighting off the virus) and
“these cells may persist in the body for a very, very long time.”

A medic wearing a personal protective equipment (PPE) while collecting a swab sample from a man ...
[+] SOPA IMAGES/LIGHTROCKET VIA GETTY IMAGES

KEY FACTS
• Researchers collected blood samples from 185 patients between the ages
of 19 to 81 who had tested positive for the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2)
early in the pandemic and discovered that most had enough immune cells
to combat the virus and prevent reinfection.

• In addition, these antibodies were “durable,” showing remarkably slow

rates of decline that were consistent with many years, and potentially
even decades, of protection.

• Although the study is a preprint that has not yet been peer-reviewed, the
New York Times refers to it as “the most comprehensive and long-ranging
study of immune memory to the coronavirus to date.”

CRUCIAL QUOTE:

“That amount of memory would likely prevent the vast majority of people
from getting hospitalized disease, severe disease, for many years,” said
Shane Crotty, a virologist at the La Jolla Institute of Immunology.

KEY BACKGROUND:

According to New York Times reporter Apoorva Mandavilli, the vast

majority of individuals (more than 90%) who had been infected with the
coronavirus will be “protected from reinfections for a very long time,” and
vaccines (“which generally provide stronger, longer-lasting protection”)
could produce an even longer duration of immunity. “We probably will not
need to vaccinate people every year as we had feared,” writes Mandavilli.
The novel coronavirus may be “terminated fast enough that not only are you
not experiencing any symptoms, but you are not infectious,” said Dr.
Alessandro Sette, an immunologist at the La Jolla Institute of Immunology
and co-author of the study. The Times report notes that scientists recently
discovered that survivors of SARS, which was also caused by a coronavirus,
still carry important immune cells 17 years after being infected. Researchers
are also hopeful that studying antibodies may provide a blueprint for
developing drugs to prevent or treat Covid-19.

TANGENT:

A recent study (also not peer-reviewed) originating from Imperial College

London found that immunity to Covid-19 may decline over time, as levels of
protective antibodies reportedly fell rapidly after infection. However,
according to Deepta Bhattacharya, an immunologist at the University of
Arizona, there is some emerging evidence that reinfections with common
cold coronaviruses are a “result of viral genetic variations” and those
concerns may not be relevant to SARS-CoV-2.

BIG NUMBER:

11.3 million. As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 11.3 million people in the
United States have tested positive for Covid-19 and at least 247,600 have
died.

FURTHER READING:

Immunity to the Coronavirus May Last Years, New Data Hint (NYT)

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Tommy Beer
I'm a New York-based news desk reporter for Forbes covering sports, politics and
business. Please feel free to contact me via email (tsbeer7 [@] gmail.com) or Twitter…
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