This is the first such survey here to be conducted over a period of nine month to find if antibodies produced against Covid are waning off. THE SIXTH sero survey of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) shows that out of the 3,099 samples of healthcare workers (HCW) and frontline workers (FLW) in the city, 3,097 had positive antibody titres amounting to 99.93 per cent of sero-positivity. This high presence of antibodies can be attributed to robust vaccination in Mumbai and possible earlier exposure to Covid.
Antibody titres were also significantly higher in the participants who had taken the precaution dose as well compared to those who had two doses of the vaccine. โThis shows that the third dose helps to provide further protection against Covid-19. So, it is essential that the eligible population, that has taken both the doses, also got the third,โ said BMC additional commissioner Suresh Kakani.
Nearly, 99.35 per cent of the participants had taken Covid vaccines — 96.7 per cent took Covishield and the remaining 3.3 per cent took Covaxin. Also, 36.5 per cent participants had got the third, precautionary dose as well.
This is the first such survey here to be conducted over a period of nine month to find if antibodies produced against Covid are waning off. In the first phase, 50.10 per cent samples were collected from FLWs from the department of solid waste management and BEST from 25 depots in the city. The remaining 49.90 per cent samples were from HCWs working at the ward-level healthcare facilities, peripheral and tertiary care hospitals.
The mean age of the participants was 43 years. Also, 58.10 per cent and 41.90 per cent of the participants were male and female respectively.
BMC’s fifth sero survey in August 2021 had shown that 86.64 per cent of the 8,674 people surveyed had antibodies against Covid.
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