Throughout the pandemic, one of the largest strangers about the coronavirus is how long people are immune after catching and recovering. The first indications were that it should yield something immunitybecause if multiple infections were possible, they would likely be common. But even a year plus in the health crisis, its exact length protection is not clear.
A recent study from the UK provides some more data, suggesting that after a person has recovered from COVID-19, their chances of getting the virus are reduced by at least 83% for at least five months. The study followed 20,000 health professionals, including 6,614 participants who tested positive for antibodies. Compared to those who did not receive COVID, those who did were 83% less likely to become reinfected. The actual protection may be higher than that, as the researchers found 44 “possible” reinfections in that group.
The study has not been peer-reviewed, but you can read some comments from experts here at the Science Media Center in the UK and detailed news stories such as these from nature that provide context.
The results of the study are more or less consistent with previous work, including this study who found that health workers with antibodies to spike proteins had more than 90% protection for 6 months.
CDC guidelines state that people who have had COVID in the past three months do not need to be quarantined if they are exposed again. That makes it sound like people are immune for three months, but they go on to clarify:
Evidence does not indicate the definitive absence of reinfection during this period, only that the risks of possible SARS-CoV-2 transmission from recovered individuals are unlikely to outweigh the personal and societal benefits of avoiding unnecessary quarantine.
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In other words, the May could become infected again within three months, but it doesn’t seem likely.
What does this mean if I have had COVID?
We’ve been through a time of so much uncertainty, with so many unanswered questions, and sadly still is another grey area. In the next two years, we will likely get a better idea of how long the protection will last. (The same goes for the vaccine: we know it works for at least two months, but ba round long enough for us to know if the immunity fades afterwards months, or years, or lasts a lifetime.)
So here’s what experts recommend: First, you may find it comforting to know that you probably have some protection. That is good news. But it is not action-oriented news: you have yet to do it actually same stuff as the rest of us.
For example, it is still important to wear masks and stick to all usual social distances regulations. Don’t think you can stand close to people and cough freely or the like.
You should also receive the vaccine when it becomes available to you. The CDC says that you should not receive the vaccine while you have COVID, but getting vaccinated after you recover is fine. If you received antibody treatment while you were ill, that could be a reason to delay vaccination, but the infection itself is not.