22 Jun 2021 20:28

Over 25% of Muscovites have immunity to Delta variant of Covid-19, this is not enough - deputy mayor

MOSCOW. June 22 (Interfax) - Only slightly more than 25% of Muscovites have a sufficient level of antibodies protecting them from the Delta variant of the novel coronavirus infection, Moscow Deputy Mayor for Social Development Anastasia Rakova said on Tuesday.

"Slightly more than 25% of Muscovites have the necessary immunity to this strain today. And definitely, such figures can't stop the development of the epidemic," Rakova said on the Rossiya-24 (VGTRK) television channel.

The level of antibodies to resist this variant should be significantly higher than in the case of other variants of coronavirus, she said.

"In the view of specialists, a certain level of antibodies was needed to protect against the Wuhan strain," Rakova said. "However, having done some research, specialists now see clearly that it's not enough just to have antibodies or G immunoglobulins to protect against the new virus strain. There should be quite a lot of them, there should be a very high level of antibodies," Rakova said, when asked how high the level of antibodies should be to protect against the Delta variant.

More than 47% of Muscovites have a residual level of antibodies to the original variant of Covid-19, she said.

"According to the latest available information, over 47% of Muscovites had antibodies to this type of the virus and over 10% were vaccinated. In principle, this made up the necessary share of 60%," she said.