Whether infection with SARS-CoV-2 prevents reinfection, or rather for how long it prevents reinfection, remains unclear.

What researchers have found:

• With other common coronaviruses, neutralizing antibodies are induced and can last for years and provide protection from reinfection
• From work done with non-human primate models infected w SARS-CoV-2, infection protects from reinfection for some time
• Transferring serum from infected to naive hamsters reduces virus replication significantly when the naive hamsters are challenged
• Vaccine induced neutralizing antibody titers has been established as a correlate of protection in non-human primates
• Spike antibody titers correlate with neutralization with authentic SARS-CoV-2 virus, and a significant number of individuals with antibody titers of 1:320 or higher show neutralizing activity in their serum
• Consistent with data for other human coronaviruses, researchers found stable antibody titers over a period of 3+ months

Establishing a correlate of protection, along with continued studying of antibody functionality, duration and kinetics, would greatly benefit vaccine development, and assist in improving policies regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.