Can You Get Coronavirus Twice?
Why it’s such a difficult question to answer
It’s still hard for many Americans to find out if they have the coronavirus. Testing capacity is low, and there have been suggestions that the virus was circulating in certain places earlier than reported, leaving open the possibility that some people may have had it and were unaware.
Knowing whether or not you’ve had Covid-19 raises another question: If you did have it and recovered, are you immune from getting it again?
The answer is still unknown. But here’s what scientists do know.
There are some anecdotal cases of people testing positive for the virus a second time, but the data is too weak to know if that is widespread (or if there were other issues with those cases — like false-positive results). At the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences in Beijing, scientists exposed four rhesus macaques to the coronavirus. All the animals came down with symptoms and later recovered and developed antibodies (proteins produced by the immune system to help fight off infections). The scientists were unable to reinfect the macaques, suggesting immunity. But the study was very small, not peer-reviewed, and not in humans.
There are some viruses in the coronavirus family — such as ones that cause the common cold — that can produce…
