The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) will undertake the fourth round of sero surveillance survey in mid-June. The survey will be conducted on 25,000-30,000 people across the country.

ICMR will also conduct a study across India, in collaboration with its Chennai-based lab – National Institute of Epidemiology – to examine whether Covid vaccines provide protection against the infection.

“Sero survey will likely begin in mid-June to test the formation of antibodies on people who are not Covid positive. Blood samples will be taken from 25,000-30,000 people across the country to see whether they have developed antibodies to Coronavirus or not,” a senior official told BusinessLine.

Vaccine protection

The study on whether Covid vaccines provide protection against the infection will also begin in June, and the report is expected to be out within two months, the sources added.

According to reports, it will screen around 3,900 people, of which, 1,300 will be Covid-positive who were hospitalised after receiving vaccine shots, and the remaining will be those who tested negative through RT-PCR test but were fully inoculated.

The ICMR has so far conducted three sero surveillance surveys across the country. While the first one was carried out in May-June last year, the second one was in August-September, and the third round of the survey was conducted during December-January.

In the last survey in which the blood samples of 28,598 people aged 10 and above were tested across 70 districts, it was found that nearly one in four individuals from the general population as well as healthcare workers were exposed to SARS-COV-2 by December 2020.