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Immunity can last for up to six months following a COVID-19 infection, a new study, part of a collaboration between the University of Oxford and Oxford University Hospitals (OUH) NHS Foundation Trust, has shown. Knowledge of immunity following a COVID-19 infection has been limited. Dr Katie Jeffery, Director of Infection Prevention and Control for Oxford University Hospitals, said: “This is an exciting finding, indicating that infection with the virus provides at least short-term protection from re-infection.” Researchers looked at a 30-week period with 12,180 healthcare workers. The findings suggests that the majority of people are unlikely to get COVID-19 again if they have already had it in the previous six months, and that healthcare workers who did not have antibodies against COVID-19 were more likely to develop the infection. The study will continue to collect data, with the goal of verifying how long protection from re-infection might last. more than 51 million people worldwide have been infected with the pandemic disease, researchers at the University of Oxford said.