How long might immunity to the coronavirus last? Years, maybe even decades, according to a new study \u2014 the most hopeful answer yet to a question that has shadowed plans for widespread vaccination.<\/p>\n
Eight months after infection, most people who have recovered still have enough immune cells to fend off the virus and prevent illness<\/a>, the new data show. A slow rate of decline in the short term suggests, happily, that these cells may persist in the body for a very, very long time to come.<\/p>\n The research, published online, has not been peer-reviewed nor published in a scientific journal. But it is the most comprehensive and long-ranging study of immune memory to the coronavirus to date.<\/p>\n \u201cThat amount of memory would likely prevent the vast majority of people from getting hospitalized disease, severe disease, for many years,\u201d said Shane Crotty, a virologist at the La Jolla Institute of Immunology who co-led the new study.<\/p>\n Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n People who have recovered from the coronavirus may have immunity that lasts years, maybe even decades, according to a new study \u2014 the most hopeful answer yet to a question that has shadowed plans for widespread vaccination. https:\/\/t.co\/9k6uPS3vfo<\/a><\/p>\n — The New York Times (@nytimes) November 17, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \n