Millions of cases of coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19), which is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), have been reported worldwide, but whether convalescing individuals can be re-infected with SARS-CoV-2 is unclear. Deng et al. generated a non-human primate model of SARS-CoV-2 infection in which rhesus macaques develop pneumonia and exhibit systemic viral dissemination. Once the macaques were in the early phases of recovery, they were rechallenged with the identical SARS-CoV-2 strain. Notably, these animals did not exhibit detectable viral dissemination, clinical symptoms and histopathological changes associated with COVID-19. The authors compared the humoral and cellular immune responses after primary infection and rechallenge and found enhanced neutralizing antibody and immune responses in the rechallenged macaques, which suggests that primary SARS-CoV-2 exposure may protect against reinfection.