When you are infected by the coronavirus and develop COVID-19, your body creates antibodies that provide some degree of natural immunity to future infection. But it appears likely that immunity to this virus will be similar to the seasonal flu, with natural immunity lasting less than a year. In a study published in BioMed Central, researchers found that less than half of COVID-positive patients retained those antibodies more than 100 days after infection. Compare that to a recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine that shows antibodies produced in patients who received the Moderna vaccine persisted for at least six months, or about double the length of protection.