WHO says reports on Hong Kong man getting reinfected with COVID-19 are ‘important’ for vaccine research – World News , Firstpost

Berlin: The World Health Organization says reports that a Hong Kong man became infected twice with the coronavirus provide important information for scientists studying immunity and developing a vaccine.

A spokeswoman for the UN health agency said on Tuesday that the unpublished study from Hong Kong offers the first “clear documentation” that reinfection with the virus that causes COVID-19 is possible, but cautioned that the number of such cases is likely very small.

Margaret Harris noted that the case in Hong Kong was just one in 23 million lab-confirmed coronavirus infections worldwide so far.

“We will probably see other documented cases, but it seems to be not a regular event,” she told reporters.

“We would have seen many more cases,” Harris said the case would help researchers understand how the human body builds up immunity to the virus.

“It is not the same as the immune protection that a vaccine provides,” she added, noting that part of the development of vaccines involves ensuring that they confer immunity.

“With the vaccine, you ideally want stronger immunity. That’s one of the things you’re looking for when you’re studying what sort of immunity your candidate vaccine stimulates,” Harris said.