In a major relief to health authorities, nearly 97 per cent people of Delhi have developed antibodies against Covid-19, reducing the fear of any imminent outbreak of large-scale infection. The figures have come from the sixth serosurvey conducted in the National Capital.

“About 97 per cent of Delhi people have developed antibodies against Covid-19,”  Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said on Thursday.

Interestingly, the male population have fewer antibodies as compared to the women. “Sixth serosurvey shows positive results in Delhi; almost all the vaccinated people have developed antibodies,” Jain said.

Jain said among the population those who had a history of Covid-19 vaccination with even one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, nearly 95 per cent were seropositive compared to 82 per cent in both ie minors who were ineligible for vaccination and also the unvaccinated adults at the time of the survey. The result shows that 97 per cent of the population has antibodies against Covid-19.

A total of 280 wards were surveyed and 100 samples were collected from each ward.

The Government collected 28,000 samples of random people from all these 280 wards. Sero-prevalence was higher in females (90.1 per cent) as compared to males with only 88.2 per cent positivity.

This serosurvey showed that the population with a past history of symptomatic Covid-19 infection irrespective of severity had significantly higher odds of seropositivity compared to those without such history.

The Delhi Government began the sixth serological survey last month to find out the percentage of the population that has antibodies against Covid-19, either through natural infections or vaccination.

The Minister also stated that this percentage of positivity has grown significantly from the first serosurvey.

The  first serosurvey that was conducted in June 2020 showed only 22.86 per cent positivity, while the second serosurvey that was conducted in August 2020 showed  29.1 per cent positivity. The third serosurvey which was conducted in September 2020 showed 25.1 per cent positivity.

The fourth serosurvey that was conducted in October 2020 showed a positivity of 25.5 per cent. The serosurvey was conducted in January 2021 showed a positivity rate of 56.13 per cent.

Jain urged the people of Delhi to wear a mask and take proper precautions while getting out of their houses or going to work.