[imagesource: here]

A number of countries have decided to introduce COVID-19 ‘immunity passports’.

These “certify” that the holder has had the coronavirus, has built up antibodies, and is less likely to contract it again, which could allow them to enter places that those people without one are barred from.

This has been a source of controversy, not only because of the social implications of creating an immune elite, but also because new research and growing knowledge of the virus changes and grows as the months roll on.

As such, we’ve received mixed messages, which are further complicated by anecdotal evidence that has come to light from people who appeared to have overcome the virus, only to seemingly contract it again at a later point.

These accounts tap into people’s deepest anxieties, adding to the already-present stress of navigating day-to-day life during a pandemic.

To inject a little sanity into the madness, here’s The New York Times:

The anecdotes are just that — stories without evidence of reinfections, according to nearly a dozen experts who study viruses. “I haven’t heard of a case where it’s been truly unambiguously demonstrated,” said Marc Lipsitch, an epidemiologist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Other experts were even more reassuring. While little is definitively known about the coronavirus, just seven months into the pandemic, the new virus is behaving like most others, they said, lending credence to the belief that herd immunity can be achieved with a vaccine.

Take note of that last part. Herd immunity can be achieved with a vaccine. Attempts to achieve in through natural exposure have failed thus far.

It’s hard to ignore the posts on social media where people claim to have contracted the virus twice, but doctors say that this can’t be definitively proven without extensive lab tests.

Or, as The Washington Post notes:

Some people could be suffering from a reemergence of the same illness from virus that had been lurking somewhere in their body, or they could have been hit with a different virus with similar symptoms.

Their positive covid-19 tests could have been false positives — a not-insignificant possibility given accuracy issues with some tests — or picked up dead remnants of virus, as authorities believe happened in hundreds of people who tested positive after recovering in South Korea.

While we’re all familiar with the spiky wrecking ball images of the coronavirus, it might interest you to know exactly how it infects the body:

Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at Columbia University, says that anecdotal evidence shouldn’t amount to sweeping statements about entire populations.

There is still not enough evidence or sufficient time since the virus first struck to draw firm conclusions about how people develop immunity to covid-19, how long it might last — or what might make it less robust in some individuals than in others.

The New York Times does, however, make the point that several teams have recently reported that the levels of COVID-19 antibodies in recovered patients decline in two to three months, causing some consternation.

 But a drop in antibodies is perfectly normal after an acute infection subsides, said Dr. Michael Mina, an immunologist at Harvard University.

Many clinicians are “scratching their heads saying, ‘What an extraordinarily odd virus that it’s not leading to robust immunity,’ but they’re totally wrong,” Dr. Mina said. “It doesn’t get more textbook than this.”

In a few months, we’ll know more as experts continue to study the virus. So, while it looks like immunity could be in play if you’ve recovered from the coronavirus, it’s best to continue taking the precautions that we’re all required to adhere to now.

Wear a mask, wash your hands regularly, and maintain as healthy a lifestyle as possible.

[sources:nytimes&washingtonpost]