Study promoted by the ULS do Nordeste in partnership with the IPB demonstrates the effectiveness of the vaccine in the fight against COVID-19

Most health professionals at the Local Health Unit (ULS) in the Northeast who were vaccinated with two doses of the vaccine against COVID-19 developed antibodies that protect against the disease. This is the main conclusion of the study developed by the Clinical Pathology Service of the ULS do Nordeste, in partnership with the Laboratory of the Mountain Research Center (CIMO) of the Polytechnic Institute of Bragança (IPB).

According to preliminary results, about 99% of the 429 professionals from the Northeast ULS who participated in the study showed reactivity against the Anti-Spike RBD antibody, which may be related to vaccination.

The study also suggests a relationship between the evolution of antibodies and age, as there is a significant decrease in the levels of Anti-Spike RBD antibodies from the 20 to 29 age group to the 30 to 39 age group and , in turn, for the age group from 40 to 49 years. That is, younger individuals have a higher protection against the disease, and the antibody values ​​are affected by the number of months that elapsed after immunization with the two doses of the vaccine.

It should also be noted that among the participants of this study, only 5 percent contracted infection after vaccination, which demonstrates the effectiveness of the vaccine in the fight against COVID-19.

Individuals who have been vaccinated with one or two doses also tested positive for COVID-19 in the period before or after vaccination have higher levels of antibodies, which suggests greater protection against reinfection.

Among the factors with the greatest impact on the immunization levels of professionals, the presence of diseases that include immunosuppressive and hypothyroidism treatments stands out.

It should be noted that this investigation included 429 professionals from different professional categories of the ULS of the Northeast, namely doctors, nurses, senior diagnostic and therapeutic technicians, technical assistants, operational assistants, nutritionists, pharmacists, among other categories, aged between 20 and 20 years. 69 years.

Antibody response to vaccines was evaluated before taking the third dose of vaccine, and post-vaccine seropositivity rates, the type of vaccine administered, age, gender, professional activity and the amount of anti-spike antibodies and anti-nucleocapsid.

This study, with the objective of evaluating the immunity to COVID-19 associated with taking the vaccine in the community, also includes a group of elderly people, and the global results will be published in due course, including all participants in the study.

This investigation will continue with the performance of the serological analysis after 8 to 10 months of taking the booster dose (3rd dose) of the vaccine against COVID-19, with a view to obtaining comparative results in terms of the evolution of the disease. immunity to the disease.

Given the pertinence and importance of this study, the work team of ULS do Nordeste and IPB would like to thank all professionals for their participation and their fundamental collaboration to carry out this investigation.