Petersburg scientists have revealed unexpected facts about COVID-19

83% of Petersburgers have antibodies to the CORONAVIRUS. Such results were shown by a new stage of the study, which was carried out by scientists from the European University in St. Petersburg together with the Research Institute of Influenza named after. A.A. Smorodintsev and the Genetico laboratory. However, this is not enough to end the pandemic.

One of the authors of the study, DIRECTOR of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Medical Research at the European University, epidemiologist Anton Barchuk told RBC Petersburg how ideas about coronavirus have changed, what is the best protection against covid-19 , why statistics do not reflect the real state of affairs and how long the pandemic will last.

Why 80% is not enough

According to the results of the study, it follows that 83% of the participants in the serological survey have antibodies to the coronavirus. At the same time, 78% of unvaccinated participants were ill. Thus, today most Petersburgers have a certain level of protection against coronavirus.

But to end the pandemic, it is necessary that more than 90% of the population have antibodies to the virus. According to Anton Barchuk, it was previously thought that a pandemic could be overcome if 70% of the population had antibodies, but this only applied to the original strain of the virus. Delta has raised the bar. Although scientists do not yet have a clear answer to the question of what this percentage should be.

Statistics and reality

However, as the researchers note, herd immunity is already working against coronavirus. Petersburg suffered the most serious losses from COVID-19 in the winter of 2020 and summer of 2021. Now, despite the high incidence rates (about 3,000 cases per day), the situation, according to scientists, is less severe than a few months ago.