WHO officials say it’s unclear whether recovered coronavirus patients are immune to second infection

World Health Organization executives announced that not all individuals who heal from the coronavirus have the needed antibodies to resist a second infection, increasing concern that patients may not develop immunity after surviving COVID-19.

“With regards to recovery and then reinfection, I believe we do not have the answers to that. That is an unknown,” Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of WHO’s emergencies program, said at a press conference at the organization’s Geneva headquarters on Monday.

A preliminary study of patients in Shanghai found that some patients had “no detectable antibody response” while others had a very high response, said Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s the lead scientist on COVID-19. Whether the patients who had a strong antibody response were immune to a second infection is “a separate question,” she added.