Covishield gives high immunity in 7 months, says study

Covishield gives high immunity in 7 months, says study

Antibody Prevalence Above 90% In HCWs Who Took Part In Study

Neha.Madaan @timesgroup.com

Pune:19.12.2021

High levels of protection (seroprevalence) against Covid-19 have been detected in over 500 healthcare workers even three-seven months after taking two doses of Covishield, a recent analysis by Pune-based BJ Government Medical College (BJMC) and Sassoon hospital has revealed.

With high levels of protection (seroprevalence) in participants at this point, the study concluded that a third booster, while a chunk of population is yet to get their second shots, may not be advisable, Dr Muralidhar Tambe, professor and Head of Community Medicine at BJMC, told TOI.

The study also found that in all categories of the 558 healthcare workers (HCWs), who were part of the study, the antibody prevalence was above 90% months after completion of two vaccine doses.

Dr Tambe said, “Though we found that the antibody prevalence decreased as the duration of interval increased after two doses of Covid vaccine, immunity levels remained high. Antibody positivity among the study participants was at 96.77% at three months post full vaccination, rising to 100% at four months, and then falling to 91.89% at seven months after the initial two doses.” He said except for five individuals, who had received Covaxin, all other study participants had received Covishield.

Dr Tambe said overall, of the 558 HCWs who participated in the study, 94.4% were positive for Covid neutralizing antibodies at the time of the study period. “At the time of the study, some of these HCWs had already completed three months, while some had completed 4-7 months after two doses of Covid vaccination. In the next aspect of the study, we analysed antibody positivity in their serum according to the duration of time period competed after full vaccination. The blood samples were collected two months ago,” he said.

With 30 new cases, Omicron count at 145

India’s Omicron caseload jumped from 115 to 145 in one day as 30 more new infections were detected in four states on Saturday, though most of the cases were either asymptomatic or showed mild symptoms. Telangana reported the most number of new cases on Saturday after 12 people tested positive, taking the state’s total to 20. Two of them have flown in from countries declared “at risk”, while 10 came from other nations. “Nine of them are foreigners,” said Dr G Srinivasa Rao, director public health. Maharashtra continued to lead the count with 48 cases, adding eight new positive tests for the new variant on Saturday. TNN