Good News: Two-Third Indians Have Developed COVID Antibodies, Says Sero Survey

New Delhi: The latest national sero survey has reported good news and sounded a warning as well.

Over two-third Indians (67.6%) have developed antibodies against COVID-19, the fourth such survey by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) reported.

However, this also means that 40 crore people in India are still at risk and therefore a matter of concern, it added.

The sero survey was conducted in 70 districts across the country in June-July. As many as 28,975 participants were enrolled for the survey, including children of 6-17 years of age.

Findings

“Two-third of the general population had SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and a third of population did not have antibodies, which means 40 crore people are still in the vulnerable category,” Director General (DG) of ICMR Dr Balram Bhargava told the media here.

“The states and districts without antibodies run the risk of infection waves,” he added.

Sero Prevalence

The survey found the overall sero-prevalence of India to be 67.6%.

The sero survey also reported that more than half of the children between 6 and 17 years were found to be seropositive (having COVID antibodies).

It showed a similar sero-prevalence in rural and urban areas of the country.