Highlights
- Immunologists in Australia have made a crucial discovery: specific cells in the body continue to memorise the virus and how to fight it.
- It means if a vaccine can replicate that immune response, just one shot could last a year, at least.
- Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has unveiled a new scheme to pay casual staff up to five days sick leave.
Monash University's Associate Professor Menno van Zelm says it's an exciting development.
"We can detect immune memory in patients after COVID-19 for up to 8 months and the number of cells and the kinetics of them really indicate that these cells will remain present for probably a year at least," he said.
It means if a vaccine can replicate that immune response, just one shot could last a year, at least, and potentially well beyond.
The identification of the memory cells in a study of 25 COVID-19 patients goes some way to explaining why there have been so few examples of genuine reinfection among the millions who have contracted the virus worldwide.
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