Not enough information to determine COVID-19 immunity - WHO scientists
Published:Monday | April 13, 2020 | 3:50 PM
LONDON — Scientists at the World Health Organization say they still do not have enough information to know if people are immune to subsequent COVID-19 infections once they have recovered from the disease.
At a briefing on Monday, WHO emergencies chief Dr Mike Ryan said that they assume people who have survived the new coronavirus and have a detectable level of antibodies should have some level of protection, but that “we just don’t know what that period of time is.”
He said scientists can make estimates based on immunity from other coronaviruses, but that even that data is quite limited.
Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s technical lead on COVID-19, said the information WHO has on antibody response and immunity is “mixed” and that they need much more information on recovered patients.
She said that there are more than 3,000 patients globally who have so far recovered from the disease and that numerous studies are currently under way to try to answer the immunity question.
“Right now, we don’t have a full picture of what immunity looks like,” she said.
“And until we do, we can’t give a complete answer.”
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