One in four people in Lagos may have had Covid-19, according to a study, meaning the state is closer to herd immunity than previously thought.
‘Herd immunity’, also known as ‘population immunity’, is the indirect protection from an infectious disease that happens when a population is immune either through vaccination or immunity developed through previous infection.
“These rates of infection are higher than those reported through the national surveillance system and reveal that the spread of infection in the states surveyed is wider than is obvious from surveillance activities,” the two agencies said in a joint statement on Tuesday.
The findings were based on blood samples collected from at least 10,000 individuals across Lagos and three other Nigerian states in September and October. The samples were tested for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies applying locally validated laboratory tests, the agencies said.