Coronavirus: ‘significant’ number of Brits may have natural immunity

Immunity to Covid-19 may have been widespread among humans even before the pandemic swept across the world, according to Oxford University scientists leading the race for a coronavirus vaccine.

John Bell, the university’s regius professor of medicine, told MPs yesterday that white blood cells known as T cells could learn how to tackle the coronavirus from exposure to other, less dangerous infections - including the common cold.

Addressing the Commons Science and Technology Select Committee, Bell said: “What seems clear is you do have cross-reaction from T cells that are activated by standard endemic coronaviruses.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

“I think they are present in quite a significant number of people.”

And that means “large numbers of the population may have natural immunity against coronavirus even if they have never been infected”, says The Telegraph.

Bell and his team are currently testing a potential vaccine in the UK, US, Brazil and South Africa.

His colleague Professor Sarah Gilbert “said on Wednesday the team has seen the right sort of immune response in trials, but declined to give a firm timeframe for when it could be ready”, Reuters reports.

Separate studies published in recent days have also suggested that a large number of people who have no Covid-19 antibodies may instead be protected by T cells. In some cases, those protective cells may have been activated by Covid-19, but a similar response may be generated by other coronaviruses such as those that cause the common cold.

So “people testing negative for coronavirus antibodies may still have some immunity”, says the BBC.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––For a round-up of the most important stories from around the world - and a concise, refreshing and balanced take on the week’s news agenda - try The Week magazine. Start your trial subscription today –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––