Coronavirus Survivors Are Likely To Be Immune To Virus For Six Months – Sweden’s Top Epidemiologist Says

Sweden’s top epidemiologist, Dr Anders Tegnell has said coronavirus survivors are likely to have immunity against the disease for six months.

Dr Anders Tegnell, who has guided the nation through the pandemic without calling for a lockdown, stated he has not seen evidence of people getting infected twice since the start of the pandemic in December 2019, Daily Mail reports.

He believes even if a survivor does not develop antibodies — immune cells that remember how to fight the virus — they will be protected.

Evidence is starting to show that antibodies are not the only type of immunity against COVID-19, and that T cells also called T lymphocytes play an important role.

It is hoped that the T cells, which target and destroy cells already infected, would offer long-term protection, possibly up to many years later.

However, scientists do not have any firm proof as to how long immunity actually lasts once a person has fought off COVID-19, mainly because it is still shrouded in secrecy and has only been known to exist since the start of the year.

Dr Tegnell‘s comments about immunity lasting for half a year were made at a press conference in Stockholm on Tuesday, July 21, The Telegraph reports.

He said;

The risk of being reinfected and of transmitting the disease to other people is probably very close to zero. Therefore, we think you can meet other people, even if they are in a high-risk group. We don’t see cases of people falling ill twice from Covid-19. Hence, our assessment is if you do get Covid-19 you are immune, even if you don’t develop antibodies.

There have been cases of people getting infected more than once but they have failed to convince scientists that humans only get a short-lived immunity against the disease.

Some infectious disease experts say it is just an issue with testing because old viral fragments that are not contagious are picked up by swabs taken weeks or months after a patient first became ill.

Dr Tegnell did not explain what proof he had to back-up his claims that immunity lasts for six months.

Scientists are hopeful any protection will last for longer, perhaps many years. Protection against some viruses, like chickenpox, is life-long.

Sweden, as at press time, has 78,166 infections and 5,646 deaths.