Taiwan has released its first study on infection-induced immunity to COVID-19. The study tracked more than 200 COVID patients for more than a year after their recovery. It found that viral immunity doesn’t last long, falling to just 30% about 500 days after recovery. This study was commissioned by the Taiwan CDC and conducted by National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University.
Taiwan has released its first study on the immunity of recovered COVID cases. The study found that 500 days after recovery, immunity dropped to just 30%. Experts recommend getting vaccinated three months after a COVID diagnosis to bolster protection.
Voice of Wu Jiunn-jong
Biotechnology professor
With regard to diagnosed COVID cases, after some 500 days pass, your immunity will be at about 30%. People who get vaccinated do indeed have higher levels of antibodies. So we encourage diagnosed COVID cases to get vaccinated again.
Philip Lo
CECC”s medical response division
Among mild cases who didn’t get a follow-up vaccination, and severe cases who didn’t get a follow-up vaccination – you can see that after 400 days of tracking, or beyond 450 days, there was a significant drop in their antibody levels. In severe cases, antibody levels stayed higher for a longer period of time. When mild cases were tracked for 500 days, their immunity dropped to 30%. If they had gotten vaccinated, their immunity stayed at 100% around the 100-day mark. That’s higher than the immunity level of cases that had not gotten vaccinated. The preliminary conclusion of this study is that, first, a severe COVID case induces immunity that’s stronger for a longer period of time, compared to a mild case. Second, with vaccination, infection-induced immunity will stay stronger for longer than it would without vaccination.
The study was based on early virus strains, which behave differently from the omicron variant that’s become dominant. Even so, researchers believe the study offers valuable insights.
