How Likely Is Reinfection Following Covid Recovery?

How Likely Is Reinfection Following Covid Recovery?
By Ernesto Cozadin/Shutterstock
Paul E. Alexander
Updated:

Public-health messaging from the beginning of this pandemic has had very little to say about immunity acquired following infection. But for most people, it is a real and pressing concern, and not only because of the vaccine mandates that have little or no regard for it. People want to know whether once recovered they can be confident of not getting it again.

Must everyone live in fear forever or is there a basis for the recovered to live with confidence?
We have looked at the published evidence and can conclude based on the existing body of evidence, that reinfections are very rare, if at all and based on typically a few instances with questionable confirmation of an actual case of re-infection (references 12345678910111213141516171819202122232425).
Paul E. Alexander
Paul E. Alexander
Author
Dr. Paul Elias Alexander is a COVID-19 consultant researcher in the US-C19 research group. He was formerly an assistant professor at McMaster University in evidence-based medicine and research methods; a COVID pandemic evidence-synthesis consultant-adviser to WHO-PAHO Washington; and senior adviser on COVID pandemic policy at Health and Human Services. He was appointed in 2008 at WHO as a regional specialist/epidemiologist in Europe's regional office in Denmark, worked for the government of Canada as an epidemiologist for 12 years, was appointed as the Canadian in-field epidemiologist (2002–2004), and worked from 2017 to 2019 at Infectious Diseases Society of America as the evidence synthesis meta-analysis systematic review guideline development trainer. Dr. Alexander holds masters level study from York University Canada, and a masters in epidemiology from the University of Toronto, a masters in evidence-based medicine from the University of Oxford, and a doctorate in evidence-based medicine and research methods from McMaster University in Canada.
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