Coronavirus immunity lasts at least 8 months after infection, and perhaps even years, new research shows; Moderna COVID-19 vaccine likely to offer up to two years of protection: CEO, and other C-Virus Updates

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Coronavirus immunity lasts at least 8 months after infection, and perhaps even years, new research shows:

A new study suggests that recovered coronavirus patients likely have a robust immune memory that persists for at least eight months. This memory relies on more than just antibodies - it also involves white blood cells known as T cells and B cell that have impressive powers of recollection. Combined, these layers of protection enable the immune system to recognize and re-attack the coronavirus should it ever invade again, thereby preventing another infection.

To assess how long immunity to the virus lasts across these various layers of the immune system, scientists measured how many - and what types of - immune cells recovered coronavirus patients had months after they got sick. Their research, published Wednesday in the journal Science, offers hope that those who've already gotten infected likely won't be ill again for quite some time.

"Most people are making most parts of the immune response to this virus, and those parts are still around six to eight months later," Shane Crotty, a virologist at La Jolla Institute for Immunology in California and a co-author of the study, told Business Insider.

"This implies that there's a good chance people would have protective immunity, at least against serious disease, for that period of time, and probably well beyond that," Crotty said in a press release. --->READ MORE HERE

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Moderna COVID-19 vaccine likely to offer up to two years of protection: CEO

Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine will likely protect people from the deadly bug for up to two years, CEO Stéphane Bancel said Thursday.

While the Massachusetts biotech firm needs to conduct more research to determine how long its shot wards off the coronavirus, Bancel said the “nightmare scenario” of the vaccine only working for a month or two is “out of the window.”

“The antibody decay generated by the vaccine in humans goes down very slowly,” Bancel said at an event sponsored by Oddo BHF, a financial services group. “We believe there will be protection potentially for a couple of years.”

The US Food and Drug Administration cleared Moderna’s vaccine for emergency use last month along with a similar shot developed by Pfizer and BioNTech. --->READ MORE HERE

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