U of M’s top infectious disease expert says long-term COVID-19 immunity uncertain

Dr. Michael Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS "long-term immunity to COVID-19 is hard to know" for those who’ve contracted the disease and are now recovering.

"There are surely data that would support that the immunity may only be short-term, meaning months, not years and years," Osterholm said. "This could be problematic because it may mean we have to keep revaccinating people if we get a successful vaccine."

Osterholm said he is working with a team of 20 of the world’s top researchers and scientists to learn more about exactly how COVID-19 is transmitted and who might be what’s called a "super spreader" in the population.

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"We don’t understand what is happening in terms of why some people shed more of the virus than others," Osterholm said. "Some people are in the term, ‘super spreaders,’ and it is never just the individual but the environment as well."

Osterholm said the group of researchers is trying to come to a consensus on how COVID-19 is transmitted and present that consensus paper some time within the next 30 days.