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96% develop antibodies against COVID-19 after one jab, study finds

A study has found 96% of Britons develop antibodies after one COVID-19 vaccination to fight the infection.

It found 96.42% of people who had the Pfizer/BioNTech or Oxford/AstraZeneca jabs developed antibodies 28 to 34 days after their first dose.

That rose to 99.08% within seven to 14 days of the second jab, the Virus Watch study reported.

For older adults and for people with underlying health conditions, the antibody response was slightly weaker after the first dose of the vaccine, but strong after the second dose.

The findings are based on a study of 8,517 people in England and Wales. A total 750 people in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Milton Keynes and Oxfordshire have taken part in the study.

The study aims to collect information in regular online surveys from over 50,000 people in England and Wales from June 2020 to August 2021.

Of these, 10,000 will receive tests for immunity and swab tests when they have symptoms to tell if they have caught COVID‑19.

Read more on the study website.