Coronavirus in India | COVID-19 widespread but 18 crore Indians may already have immunity says Thyrocare's antibody tests

Data from private laboratories suggests that nearly 15 percent of those tested had antibodies against the novel coronavirus.

Moneycontrol News

July 21, 2020 / 11:20 IST

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COVID-19 infections in the country could be more widespread than previously thought, but is not lethal as feared, data from private laboratories conducting antibody tests show.

Many people may have recovered from COVID-19 without showing major symptoms at least in self-selected samples.

Follow our LIVE blog for the latest updates of the novel coronavirus pandemic

Data shared by Arokiaswamy Velumani, founder and Managing Director of laboratory chain Thyrocare, on Twitter, shows that nearly 15 percent of those tested had antibodies against SARS-Cov2, which causes COVID-19.

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the findings.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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Coronavirus in India | COVID-19 widespread but 18 crore Indians may already have immunity says Thyrocare's antibody tests

Data from private laboratories suggests that nearly 15 percent of those tested had antibodies against the novel coronavirus.

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Coronavirus in India | COVID-19 widespread but 18 crore Indians may already have immunity says Thyrocare's antibody tests

Data from private laboratories suggests that nearly 15 percent of those tested had antibodies against the novel coronavirus.

Related Stories

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