‘Gold Standard’ UK Study Finds COVID-19 Immunity Degrades Within 6 Months

Scientists have now obtained evidence that one source described as virtual confirmation that COVID-19 antibodies are seasonal, meaning that those with particularly weak immune responses might be susceptible to reinfection, while most people infected with COVID-19 will see their antibody levels degrade over a period of 4-6 months.

Most MSM outlets framed it as a setback for the scientists behind the Great Barrington Declaration. One scientist said this finding could mean that vaccines create a more potent immune response to the virus than the natural response. At the very least, it’s a higher bar for vaccines, and could mean a more lucrative outcome if people need to be vaccinated at the start of every “COVID” season.

At the very least, Dr. Fauci has said the first vaccines should be ready for mass inoculation within six months.

The study, carried out by researchers at Imperial College of London, found that antibody prevalence fell by a quarter, from 6% of the population around the end of June to just 4.4% in September, down from levels seen earlier this year.

Immunity has been a hot topic ever since a Dutch woman became the first patient to pass away after being reinfected with the virus.

Th sample size used in the ICL study was massive: some 365,000 randomly selected adults were tested in three waves.

Large, randomized trials like this are considered a “gold standard” in scientific research.

Notably, there was no change in the antibody levels of health-care workers, a sign that repeated exposure potentially can bolster one’s immunity to the virus.

Here’s more on the study from Reuters.

Scientists at Imperial College London have tracked antibody levels in the British population following the first wave of COVID-19 infections in March and April.

Their study found that antibody prevalence fell by a quarter, from 6% of the population around the end of June to just 4.4% in September. That raises the prospect of decreasing population immunity ahead of a second wave of infections in recent weeks that has forced local lockdowns and restrictions.

Although immunity to the novel coronavirus is a complex and murky area, and may be assisted by T cells, as well as B cells that can stimulate the quick production of antibodies following re-exposure to the virus, the researchers said the experience of other coronaviruses suggested immunity might not be enduring.

“We can see the antibodies and we can see them declining and we know that antibodies on their own are quite protective,” Wendy Barclay, head of the Department of Infectious Disease at Imperial College London told reporters.

On the balance of evidence I would say, with what we know for other coronaviruses, it would look as if immunity declines away at the same rate as antibodies decline away, and that this is an indication of waning immunity at the population level.”

Those for whom COVID-19 was confirmed with a gold standard PCR test had a less pronounced decline in antibodies, compared to people who had been asymptomatic and unaware of their original infection.

There was no change in the levels of antibodies seen in healthcare workers, possibly due to repeated exposure to the virus.

After insisting for months that there was no evidence of reinfection with COVID-19, even after the first evidence of reinfection emerged, the WHO said via spokesman Tarik Jasarevic that uncertainty over how long immunity would last meant that “acquiring this collective immunity just by letting the virus run through the population is not really an option.”

Once again,  scientists who signed the Great Barrington Declaration are proposing that we end lockdowns, and rely on other less restrictive ways to fight the virus.

The WHO issued a recommendation of its own recently claiming that lockdowns place disproportionate stress on the poor, and argued that there are better ways to combat the virus.