56% of over-80s have antibodies

More than half of all over-80s have now developed antibodies to fight off the virus, official data shows.

random testing by the office for National Statistics (oNS) has revealed a sharp rise in immunity as a result of the successful vaccination programme.

Antibodies are immune cells the body makes to fight viruses. They bind to the spike protein on the outside of the coronavirus, preventing it entering cells.

The oNS took blood samples in the month up to February 11 and found that 56.4 per cent of over-80s had antibodies. This is up from 41 per cent in the same age group two weeks ago.

People aged 80 and over were among the earliest groups to receive the Covid-19 vaccine, with first doses being offered from early December.

It takes between two and three weeks after infection or vaccination for the human body to make enough antibodies to fight the virus. The oNS said that across all age groups, nearly one in four people in england tested positive for antibodies up until mid-February.

Sarah Crofts, a senior statistician for the Covid-19 Infection survey, said: ‘This is in line with what we would expect at this stage in the pandemic, as more people have had the virus following a period of high infection rates and the vaccination programme.

‘The success of the vaccination rollout is likely having an impact on antibody levels, with older age groups prioritised for vaccination reporting high levels of antibody positivity in england.’

After those aged over 80, the next closest group with the largest share of people with Covid antibodies were those aged 16 to 24 with a rate of 30.1 per cent.

Women were also more likely to have antibodies with 24.6 per cent positive, compared with 21.9 per cent of men.

London continues to have the highest level of antibody positivity among the regions of england, with an estimated 29.1 per cent for the 28 days to February 11, while south-west england has the lowest at 16.3 per cent.