The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) has advised that the current public health policy which assumes a period of protective immunity of nine months post-infection with Covid-19 should not be changed.
HIQA has published its advice to the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) on the duration of immunity following Covid-19 infection.
It reviewed 65 large observational studies involving over 1.4 million previously infected individuals, including 10 studies with over 12 months' maximum follow-up.
It found that the risk of Covid-19 re-infection was low within the timeframe of these studies. There was also evidence to suggest that vaccination provides additional protection to those previously infected with Covid-19.