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(CNN) – When a person contracts COVID-19, it is likely that they will also gain some degree of immunity upon recovery.
But researchers still don’t know for how long.
“Reinfection can and does occur with COVID-19, although it seems to be a rare event so far,” according to emergency physician Dr Leana Wen.
Of the millions of COVID-19 cases worldwide, only a handful of documented cases show reinfection.
But it’s still a concern.
“The virus that causes COVID-19 is coronavirus and coronaviruses cause illnesses like the common cold that are known to re-infect people year after year,” Wen said.
So far, research has shown that any immunity acquired after recovery from COVID will likely last for months, not years.
“We also don’t know how complete the protection is and whether, if you are exposed, you might not get sick but pass the virus on to others,” Wen said.
This is one of the reasons she says the herd immunity approach to COVID-19 is not working.
If we let the virus infect most of the population, it is estimated that millions of people could die with no guarantee that those who survive will be protected for more than a few months.
“This is why prevention is so essential,” Wen said. “It is really important that we do everything we can to protect ourselves from the coronavirus.”
Since the coronavirus vaccines are still in development, we don’t know what re-infection means for the vaccine, but it’s likely that a single-dose vaccine won’t be enough.
Ultimately, we might need booster shots like tetanus, or even annual shots like we do for the flu.
Copyright 2020 CNN Newsource. All rights reserved.
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