- Coronavirus immunity is still a mystery, as the virus is too young for researchers to offer a definitive answer on how long it lasts.
- Several studies have shown that the immune response after COVID-19 involves many types of cells, not just neutralizing antibodies.
- A new COVID-19 immunity study, which everyone should be aware of, has just been published in a scientific journal after being released in a pre-printed version in mid-November.
- The study shows that people infected at the beginning of the pandemic still had a strong immune response eight months later, suggesting that similar protection with vaccines is possible.
The first vaccines against coronavirus are being administered in the United States and the United Kingdom now, with the entire European Union to start its immunization campaign after Christmas. The Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine has been authorized for emergency use in all of these regions, with the drug Moderna being used only in America for the time being. Combined with ongoing health measures, vaccines can speed up the return to normal because they can help boost herd immunity quickly.
Phase 3 trials showed that both drugs can protect against severe COVID-19 in 95% of cases, which can help to dramatically reduce the number of deaths. Vaccine developers also explained that vaccines elicit potent immune responses, matching or exceeding what is seen in survivors of COVID-19. What they cannot say is how long immunity to coronavirus lasts after inoculation – but now there is a new study of coronavirus that brings great news on that front.
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Researchers at Monash University published their findings about a month ago on a pre-review form. They studied samples from 25 survivors of COVID-19 and found that the volunteers developed long-term immunity after infection. Samples were collected up to 242 days after infection, or about eight months.
The researchers confirmed that proteins that can block cells infected by the virus can actually disappear from the bloodstream after a period of time. These are the neutralizing antibodies that bind to the virus’s spike protein, preventing it from binding to human cells.
But they also made a more important discovery.
The team found that the immune system creates B and T cells that are specific to the new pathogen. These white blood cells will recognize the coronavirus in the event of a second encounter. B cells would create other antibodies in response to the new event, while some of the T cells would directly kill cells that were infected. While the antibodies decreased over time, memory B cells continued to rise until 150 days after the onset of symptoms.
Monash researchers have basically given the world the best possible immunity news so far, that the immune response after a COVID-19 infection is potent. They also confirmed other recent immunity studies that indicated that it is not only neutralizing antibodies that are important in helping to fight the virus in reinfection. The immune response is more complex than that.
Vaccine manufacturers have been detailing the neutralizing antibodies in their reports, but have also started analyzing B and T cells after vaccinations. The Pfizer / BioNTech team recently explained that T cells that can target the virus’s spike protein are created after vaccination.
The Monash study has just been published in a suitable scientific journal – ScienceMag. Although more data is needed on the topic of COVID-19 immunity, this adds more validation to the research. It is not just another article published in the form of peer review.
“As the knowledge of SARS-CoV-2 and human lung immunology evolves, we will gain information about what is needed for a protective response to this respiratory virus. However, we propose that the establishment of systemic immune memory will prevent severe systemic COVID-19, and reinfection may be limited to a mild or asymptomatic upper respiratory tract infection, ”wrote the researchers.
They also suggest that the study of B cells could be used in vaccine research. “As we have shown that the specific SARS-CoV-2 [B memory] cell numbers are stable over time, we propose that these [B memory] may represent a more robust marker of long-lasting humoral immune responses than serum antibodies. Therefore, cellular measurements of the immune response may be more reliable markers for maintaining immunity after natural infection or vaccination. “
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As more time passes, researchers will continue to measure the immune response in patients with COVID-19 who were infected early in the disease. Immunity can last even longer than the 8 months of protection documented by the Monash study. As the virus is still so new, it is too early to say.
Separately, the head of Operation Warp Speed, Moncef Slaoui, said that preventing infection “may be shorter, maybe it will last three, four, six months” in an interview a few days ago. But he added that “disease prevention, in my humble opinion as a specialist, will probably last a year or two, three years.” This means that people may still be infected with the coronavirus, but will not develop severe COVID-19 in most cases.
Studies like this can give more people the motivation to get the COVID-19 vaccine as quickly as possible. Herd immunity will require that more than 70% of people are vaccinated, and there is still a significant group that is hesitant. Vaccine supplies will be scarce initially, but anyone who wants a COVID-19 vaccine must receive it by April as manufacturing increases. If you are still unsure about vaccines, this is the COVID-19 immunity study that should convince you.
Chris Smith started writing about gadgets as a hobby and, before he knew it, was sharing his views on technology with readers around the world. Whenever he’s not writing about gadgets, he fails miserably to stay away from them, although he tries desperately. But this is not necessarily a bad thing.