Rise in Levels of Anti-SARS CoV-2 Immunoglubulin G by Covishield Vaccine- A Cohort Study in Rural Medical College, West Bengal, India

Introduction: The Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic was declared by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on 11th March 2020 caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). As a preventive measure, valid information concerning the development of antibodies is being collected for assessing the progress towards herd immunity of COVID-19. Aim: To assess the level of Anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG before and after vaccination by two doses of ChAdOx1 nCoV 19 vaccine in a rural Medical College of West Bengal. Materials and Methods: The present interventional cohort study was conducted in a rural Medical College and Hospital, West Bengal, India, from February 2021 to August 2021. Total 248 willing subjects were included for this interventional study from the same socio-economic and geographical distribution depending upon a vaccine population of a rural Medical College of West Bengal. To measure the anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody authors used Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Virology (ICMRNIV) certified Anti-SARS-CoV-2 human IgG ELISA COVID KAVACH MERILISA kit and approved protocol by the ICMR. Results: The median age of study population was 39 years (range 25-64) with 97 (39.1%) females and 151 (60.9%) males. It was found that antibody response induced by two doses of vaccination was significantly high (t-value: 28.421, p<0.001) in the vaccinated population. Conclusion: Thus, present study suggests that vaccination may be critical to develop anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody. This would lead to a better understanding of the immunisation program and prevention of severe disease and deaths due to COVID-19.