Mutations, Antibodies, and Immunity

We know that Corvid-19 is related to many different variants of the cold virus and flu viruses. After getting a cold it's generally believed that you have about 45 days of immunity. Flu, as we all recognize, mutates annually requiring the development of new vaccines that hopefully will protect against whatever strain appears each fall. These mutations change the nature of the disease every year. That does not bode well for the development of a vaccine for Corvid-19. RNA viruses have notoriously high mutation rates. Sometimes they become less virulent, other times more so (See https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3000003)

One of the initiatives for a return to "normalcy" is testing for antibodies, yet it appears from serology studies done in China that some people who have had the disease have few or no antibodies at all. The purpose of the immunity testing might be to issue "certificates of immunity"

Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN that, once testing is more widespread, it’s possible people might eventually carry some form of identification showing they’re immune to the virus.

I suppose that would be a good idea, although it just seems too reminiscent of requiring people to wear yellow stars except in this case those without the stars would be the evil ones.

Nevertheless, it's important to know what the level of immunity might be following infection. We have no idea whether that immunity would be long or short term. In the meantime, manufacturers are racing to get antibody tests out there with little oversight or testing to see how or whether they even work.

There was a report that the genome of the virus in Iceland showed evidence of having mutated from that in parts of Europe. Could that be partially responsible for their lower mortality? Is anyone even asking that question? Surely that's a question that should be asked at all these interminably propaganda/briefing sessions