On May 14, 2020, scientists at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) announced they had resolved the uncertainty whether the immune system can mount a substantial and lasting response to SARS-CoV-2 and that exposure to circulating common cold coronaviruses provides some protective immunity.

The study, published in Cell, documented a robust antiviral immune response to SARS-CoV-2 in a group of 20 adults who had recovered from COVID-19. The findings dispelled fears that the virus may elude ongoing efforts to create an effective vaccine.