A Russian scientist has become infected with the coronavirus after having already contracted and recovered from it as part of an experiment, the New York Post reports.
Alexander Chepurnov, a virologist and senior researcher at the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences in the Federal Research Center of Fundamental and Translational Medicine, told the Russian news agency TASS that he first contracted the coronavirus after flying from France to Novosibirsk toward the beginning of the pandemic.
Chepurnov recovered, and an antibody test showed COVID-19 antibodies in his system, but a second test three months later showed no antibodies. Despite this, Chepurnov did not contract the virus again, even after repeated exposure to coronavirus patients. He decided to test how long his apparent immunity would last and found that after about six months he had contracted the disease again.
"My conclusion is that the mankind will most likely be unable to obtain a herd immunity to the coronavirus. I was ready to contract the infection for the second time in order to clear the situation this way," Chepurnov said.
He added that since the antibodies don’t appear to last long enough for people to develop herd immunity, it may be necessary to instead rely on periodic vaccination once a vaccine is available.
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.