Mumbai’s next serosurvey to be conducted in February

This picture has been used for representational purpose

Though the number of Covid-19 cases are under control, the BMC wants to conduct the next serosurvey in February, to analyse the situation and act accordingly. The schedule also has a relevance of completion of one year of the anti-Coronavirus vaccination.

After a novel Coronavirus infection or vaccination against it, the human body produces antibodies against the virus. The serosurvey conducted in August had revealed that about 87 per cent of people had antibodies. The results had shown that antibodies were present in 90 per cent fully vaccinated people, and 80 per cent of those who hadn't been immunised. It means most of the people had antibodies and the chance of a third Covid-19 wave could be less.

Similarly, the serosurvey conducted between April and June revealed that out of the 2,176 blood samples of children tested, antibodies were found in 51 per cent of those aged below 14 years. The seropositivity was higher in comparison to March. However, no scientific data is available to show how long the antibodies exist in the human body and whether it will be effective against the new strains of novel Coronavirus. The answer lies in serosurveys.

"The corporation feels that multiple serosurveys after intervals will be important to see how much of the city's population has antibodies," said a civic official. He added that people contracted the novel Coronavirus even after taking both the doses of Covid-19 vaccines, and high-rises are still reporting more cases than other areas.

"We will draft a plan in January and conduct the survey in February to see the seropositivity among people. The city will complete one year since the start of the vaccination programme in January, and we will get the data accordingly," said Suresh Kakani, additional commissioner of the BMC.