Nine in ten 30-year-olds in UK have Covid antibodies

Cases might be going up but so is resistance

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), nine out of ten people aged 30 now have the necessary Covid antibodies to fight the coronavirus, as past infections and the continued rollout of vaccines is helping build wider immunity. With 90 percent of this age group having now built up a level of protection to the virus, antibody rates in the UK are now more than 50% higher than the original roadmap projections. The figures from the ONS published on Wednesday show that nine in ten of all adults in the UK also had the crucial antibodies as of July 4, either as a result of past infection or having had at least their first vaccination. You can see some of the figures below: Scotland and Northern Ireland also passed 90% of antibodies among 30-year-olds on July 4, whereas Wales has been far ahead, reaching the same threshold back in early June. Though this is, of course, a positive statistic, there is a steep drop-off in antibody prevalence among younger adults: 59.6% of 20-year-olds and just 47.6% of 18-year-olds in England having antibodies, though younger people are more naturally resistant. Kara Steel, a senior statistician at the ONS who runs the Covid Infection survey, said: "As we see the relaxation of restrictions, continuing to monitor how antibody and infection levels change in the coming months through our survey is crucial". As part of this latest data, it is estimated that one in 28 people currently have Covid-19 and, of course, with events like Euro 2020 having just passed and the Freedom Day celebrations having already got into full swing, infection rates are continuing to rise. Over 600,000 people were pinged by the NHS app last week and supermarkets face the possibility of empty shelves as thousands of employees are told to self-isolate. We can only hope immunity continues to improve in the meantime,