Nearly 99% of HCM City residents have antibodies from COVID-19 infection: study

A student gets vaccinated against COVID-19. Children under 12 years old have lower antibodies than other groups due to low vaccine coverage. (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNS/VNA) – Up to 98.7% of people in HCM City
have antibodies to , which developed after the unprecedented wave of
infections driven by the highly contagious Omicron variant in early March,
according to data from HCM City’s Department of Health.

Of that, the proportion of people with natural has reached
more than 88%.

The department has published the data in its study on community
immunity jointly conducted by HCM City’s Centre for Disease Control, the
HCM City Hospital for Tropical Diseases and the Oxford University Clinical
Research Unit in September 2022.

The research team conducted the study on 839 people from new-born to those over
70 years old of both genders and living in different areas in the city.

The team collected and analysed blood samples to measure the proportion of
anti-nucleocapsid antibodies, which developed in people with prior infection
with SARS-CoV-2, and of those who have been
infected with the virus or got vaccinated.

The results showed that 88.2% of the total samples now have antibodies from
past COVID infections and up to 98.7% have antibodies after being fully
vaccinated or infected with the virus.

In particular, the positive rate of natural antibodies in different age groups
is quite similar, ranging from 86% to 97% in age groups from under five to 70
years old. The rate for those more than 70 years old is 76%.

The research team concluded that the high rate of people in HCM City with
antibodies to COVID-19 has formed after the re-opening of schools and the surge
of the Omicron variant infection in early March.

The high percentage of people with antibodies has indicated the coverage of the
vaccine as well as the role of natural infection in creating antibodies against
SARS-CoV-2 in the community.

Only a very small percentage (1.3%) of the population does not have anti-spike
protein antibodies, but this does not mean they are not protected against
because this study does not assess the cellular immune response.

The group of children under 12 years old has lower anti-spike protein
antibodies than other groups, which is consistent with the fact that vaccine
coverage in this group is lower than in other groups.

However, the threshold of positive antibody concentration to ensure protection
against the Omicron variant has remained unknown.

Currently, scientists around the world are still studying the issue.

The city’s Department of Health has cautioned that vaccination is the safest
method to protect people’s health against the virus and maintain community
immunity. It has encouraged people to take children between 5 and 11 years old
to get vaccinated./.