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Whether people develop immunity to SARS-CoV-2 after being infected once is a pressing question for policymakers, public health professionals, and everyone affected by the spreading COVID-19 pandemic. It’s of particular interest to several research groups and companies currently developing plasma therapies, whereby antibody-containing blood plasma is extracted from recovered patients and administered to patients with severe cases to help them fight off the infection.
Now, a study in monkeys provides some clues. Three rhesus macaques did not develop a second infection after recovering from a first exposure to the coronavirus and being reexposed to SARS-CoV-2, suggesting that primates are capable of developing at least some short-term immunity to the pathogen. The research, posted as a preprint to bioRxiv March 14, has yet to undergo peer review. To the authors, the results indicate that reports of some COVID-19 survivors being “re-infected” a second time can be explained ...
