How long does coronavirus immunity last after infection? The CDC quietly published the first defined COVID-19 immunity period on its website. The virus is too young for healthcare professionals to have an exact timeframe for protection against reinfection.
How long does novel coronavirus immunity last? That’s a question health officials can’t answer for certain since COVID-19 hasn’t existed for long enough to tell. But it’s an answer we need not just for vaccine development, but also for the next stages of pandemic management. How long is a COVID-19 survivor protected for? How bad would a second COVID-19 bout be for people who already had it? Scientists initially said that coronavirus immunity might match the immunity we get from the other human coronaviruses that cause common colds. That’s anywhere from six to 12 months, and that’s how long we expect vaccines to last as well. Recent data showed that neutralizing antibodies may disappear from the bloodstream within three months, but the immune system also has backup T cells that can kill the virus upon reinfection by kickstarting the production of antibodies.
