New study finds mild COVID creates lasting antibody producing cells

In this May 24, 2021 article for the Washington School of Medicine in St. Louis, Tamara Bhandari, reports on the results of a new study on COVID immunity conducted by researchers from the university.

Researchers found that months after recovering from mild cases of COVID-19, “people still have immune cells in their body pumping out antibodies against the virus that causes COVID-10”. The researchers also say that such cells could persist for a long time. 

The study, which was published by Nature last May 24, 2021, also found that as these antibodies offering lasting protection against COVID-19, repeated bouts against the illness are uncommon [a similar result was found by a study among the young Danish people, see Study of 10-million person-identifiable PCR-test in Denmark shows young people protected from SARS-CoV-2 reinfection]. 

In a statement to the press, senior author Ali Ellebedy, associate professor of pathology and immunology, of medicine, and of molecular biology, clarified some false notions being propagated by mainstream media. She said, “Last fall, there were reports that antibodies wane quickly after infection with the virus that causes COVID-19, and mainstream media interpreted that to mean that immunity was not long-lived. But that’s misinterpretation of the data. It’s normal for antibody levels to go down after acute infection, but they don’t go down to zero; they plateau. Here, we found antibody-producing cells in people 11 months after first symptoms. These cells will live and produce antibodies for the rest of people’s lives. That’s strong evidence for long-lasting immunity”.

Editor’s Note: Herd immunity through natural infection is possible. If we combine the findings of this research with the proposal of The Great Barrington Declaration, then we know that herd immunity can be done safely and with very little disruption to our societal systems [see The Great Barrington Declaration: Life must return to normal for the healthy, the vulnerable must be protected].

In the Philippines, as of May 25, 2021, 94.9% of all SARS-CoV-2 cases are mild and asymptomatic. Our health department should rejoice! The majority of our citizens are immune to the virus! We no longer need to vaccinate a majority of Filipinos, which means that we can save our resources and focus on economic revival and the provision of other social services. This is good news! The best part is that it isn’t just the SARS-CoV-2 positive who have immunity. Their close contacts, family, and friends they regularly interact with, are also immune [see T-cell immunity found in SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals and close contacts who never experienced detectable infection].

And if we consider the results of two other studies, Our immune system evolves to fight coronavirus variants and New study: T-cells induced by COVID infection can respond to new SARS-CoV-2 variants, then we can heave a sigh of relief as new variants will no longer threaten us. 

If our government knows to follow the science lockdowns can now be lifted for the majority of the population, and extra care can be given to those who need the greatest medical attention.