40 crore population of the country is still vulnerable: ICMR DG

New Delhi, July 20: ICMR DG Dr Balram Bhargava on Tuesday said that the fourth national serosurvey for Covid-19 showed a third of the population did not have antibodies i.e 40 crore of the population of the country is still vulnerable. We studied 7252 healthcare workers and 10 per cent had not taken the vaccine, the overall seroprevalence in them was 85.2 per cent. In conclusion, 2/3rd of general population i.e above the age of six years had SARS-CoV-2 infection, Dr Bhargava said. “More importantly, a third of the population did not have antibodies i.e 40 crore of the population of the country is still vulnerable,” Dr Bhargava highlighted. Implications of 4th serosurvey clearly show that there is a ray of hope but there is no room for complacency. We must maintain Covid appropriate behaviour and community engagement. National level serosurvey is not a substitute of state/district level serosurvey, the ICMR DG said. The 4th round of national serosurvey was conducted in 70 districts in June-July and included children of 6-17 years of age. Overall seroprevalence is 67.6 per cent in the entire population. In people of 6-9 years age group, it was 57.2 per cent; in 10-17 years, it was 61.6 per cent; in 18-44 years, it was 66.7 per cent; in 45-60 years, it was 77.6 per cent, Dr Bhargava said. There was no difference in seroprevalence in male and female and rural and urban areas. In unvaccinated, the seroprevalence was 62.3 per cent and with one dose of vaccine, it was 81 per cent. In those who receive both doses, it was 89.8 per cent. Social, public, religious and political congregations should be avoided, non-essential travel be discouraged and travel only if fully vaccinated. We need to ensure full vaccination of all healthcare workers at the earliest &need to accelerate vaccination in vulnerable groups.