“New Study Reveals High COVID-19 Antibody Prevalence and Vaccination Coverage in Chile”

On June 1, a webinar will be held, with the presence of the Minister of Health, Dr. Ximena Aguilera, to publicize the results of the study carried out by the Universidad Católica del Norte, del Desarrollo and the Universidad de Talca, the Those interested in participating must register at here

The sample was carried out in Talca and in the Coquimbo-La Serena conurbation, and has made it possible to know the progress of the COVID-19 infection and the effective coverage of vaccination against COVID-19 achieved until May 2022.

The study is funded by the National Research and Development Agency and it has been carried out under the direction of epidemiologist Dr. Muriel Ramírez Santana, Full Professor of the Faculty of Medicine of the Universidad Católica del Norte, with the participation of a team of researchers from the universities of Talca, Development and Catholic from North.

This is the third evaluation carried out by the same group of researchers, after the previous studies in 2020 and 2021. In this way, during May 2022, a random and representative sample of more than 800 people from Talca was studied. and the Coquimbo-La Serena conurbation, in which the presence of antibodies against the virus that causes COVID-19 was identified.

SOME RESULTS

It was found that more than 98% of the population had the presence of antibodies, with only 1.6% of the population that had not been vaccinated to date. 55% of the people had received the basic scheme plus a booster and 36% had two boosters up to that date. In this way, it is evident that the high vaccination coverage in Chile allows maintaining high prevalence rates of antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the population, independent of demographic variables and social determinants of health.

Among the few unvaccinated participants, the progression of the pandemic was observed, with an increase in seropositivity from 46.2% in the second round (2021) to 85.7% in the third round (2022), evidencing the high proportion of contagion that our population suffered, since these antibodies were the product of natural infection, not of the vaccine.

In addition, in 110 people who had 1 or 2 vaccine boosters, protective antibodies against the original virus and against the Ómicron variant were measured, finding that 98% of these people had protective antibodies for the original virus. However, only 65% ​​had protective antibodies against Omicron. That means that more than a third of people were not currently protected against the most widely circulated variant, despite having been vaccinated up to that date. Hence the importance of having the bivalent vaccine that protects against Omicron.

WHO experts are recently debating the need to adjust vaccines against the variants that are in circulation. That is to say, that from now on the vaccines must vary from year to year, in a similar way to what happens with influenza.

The call is then to attend the health centers to get vaccinated with the option that provides the greatest protection, which is the bivalent.

The seminar will be broadcast live on Thursday, June 1, starting at 12:00, through the YouTube channel of the Universidad Católica del Norte @UCN_CHILE