4 July 2020 | New Scientist | 5THROUGHOUT the pandemic, SARS-
CoV-2 has proved full of surprises, most
of them nasty. Initially regarded as a
respiratory virus, we now know it infects
other organ systems, and can linger
for months. It disproportionally kills
people from poor and ethnic minority
backgrounds and also men, for reasons
that still aren’t fully understood.
It doesn’t seem to be suppressed
by warm weather or climates.
But the latest surprise is a nice one.
Initial fears that the virus would fail to
raise immune memory – the lengthy,
sometimes lifelong, protection that
we get from exposure to many viruses
including measles – look exaggerated.
It is still early days, but signs from
patients point to a strong and long-
lasting immune response (see page 10).
That is welcome news for two reasons.It makes a vaccine more likely, and
means that people who have recovered
from the virus almost certainly can’t
get it again, at least in the short term.
But it also brings complications.
One is that governments will be
tempted to introduce “immunitypassports” for people who have
recovered, perhaps permitting them to
travel or attend large gatherings, which
those without passports would be
banned from. That may seem like a good
idea, but bioethicists warn that it could
backfire, for example by creating perverse
incentives to get infected and a blackmarket in stolen or forged passports.
It could also be the start of a slippery
slope to a more comprehensive system
of health passports and surveillance.
The other fear is that it revives the
canard that naturally acquired herd
immunity will save us. That this was
ever on the table beggars belief: without
knowing whether natural immunity
exists, positing herd immunity as an
exit strategy is scientifically illiterate.
Even now, natural herd immunity is
for the birds. The levels of infection
required would kill millions and
devastate health services.
But herd immunity does remain
the way out, if it is artificially created
by vaccination. On that front, the
latest science looks good. With
infections rising globally (see page 7),
we badly need it. ❚If memor y serves
The way our bodies remember coronavirus infection may make a vaccine possible
The leader
“Natural herd immunity is for
the birds. The levels of infection
required would kill millions
and devastate health services”CONTACT US
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