It is possible to be reinfected with the Covid Omicron BA.5 strain within just six to eight weeks of recovering from an earlier variant, an Australian health official has claimed. Omicron BA.5 is the dominant strain of covid in the UK, accounting for an estimated 78.7% of cases, Government figures show.
With the virus continuing to produce new variants it has been a difficult task for scientists to determine how long immunity lasts for those who have recovered from coronavirus. The Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) figures for reinfections in the UK show a large peak from April of this year which has yet to dip significantly.
The ONS website states: “There has been a large increase in the rates for all first reinfections, and first reinfections with a high viral load, since the Omicron variants became dominant.” Meanwhile the NHS page on Covid reinfection states: “You probably have some immunity to the virus but it's not clear how long it lasts.”
