Study: Antibodies also develop a month after 2nd dose of Covid vax

LUCKNOW : Protective levels of antibodies generally develop weeks after the first dose of Covid vaccine, but they also develop a month after the second shot, says a study.

“It is considered that antibodies develop weeks after the first dose of vaccination. Our study showed they (antibodies) might take a longer time to develop,” said Prof MM Faridi, principal, Era’s Lucknow Medical College and Hospital (ELMCH) that conducted the study. This healthcare centre was a Level 3 Covid hospital and admitted about 5,000 patients.

ELMCH vaccinated 6,500 staff working on the campus, and from among them, chose 246 for the antibodies’ study. Samples were taken one month after their first jab and a month after the second dose. Covishield was used for all 6,500 staff members.

“As many as 17 people had not developed antibodies after a month of their first jab. Among them, 14 developed antibodies when we checked their sample taken a month after the second dose,” said Faridi.

The three who did not develop antibodies (out of the 246) included two individuals in 30-39 years age group and one 60-plus. “Our study is significant also because we tested people who had worked during the second wave when the Delta variant caused problems to most people with Covid,” he said.

Out of the 246, only 18 contracted the Covid infection post vaccination and these included 10 doctors and eight other health staff. Eleven were men and seven females.

As many as 246 medical staff (156 male and 90 female) were chosen randomly from among those fully immunised between January and July. After one month of inoculation of both doses of Covishield, it was found that antibodies were generated in 93% (229) staff members while 17 employees didn’t have any antibodies. The average antibodies level was 11.76, said Dr Siddharth Chandel.

The study showed that young beneficiaries of vaccination had better levels of antibodies compared to the elderly. “Vaccine is a strong protection against Covid infection as those who got infected again did not have any serious problem and did not require hospitalisation,” said Faridi.