Covid sufferers who caught the Omicron variant will not be protected from catching it again, according to scientists at Imperial College London.
The investigators say Omicron and its evolutions could explain why Covid cases remain higher than predicted in the UK.
Earlier studies found that past illnesses with Covid provided some immunity against re-infection – but the latest research indicates that is not the case with the Omicron variant, The Telegraph reports.
Prof Danny Altmann from the Imperial College’s Department of Immunology and Inflammation, said: ‘The message is a little bleak. Omicron and its variants are great at breakthroughs but bad at inducing immunity, thus we get reinfections ad nauseum and a badly depleted workforce.
‘Not only can it break through vaccine defences, it looks to leave very few of the hallmarks we’d expect on the immune system.
‘It’s more stealthy than previous variants and flies under the radar, so the immune system is unable to remember it.’
