Over half of NL blood donors have Covid-19 antibodies

The number of blood donors in the Netherlands who have antibodies against Covid-19 in their blood, increased significantly over the past month. About 54 percent of blood donors now have these antibodies, compared to 32 percent last month, blood bank Sanquin said.

The blood bank attributes the increase to the vaccination program against Covid-19. The increase is particularly visible among the elderly, one of the first population groups up for vaccination. 90 percent of people over the age of 70 now have Covid-19 antibodies. As do 85 percent of people in their sixties, and 54 percent of people in their fifties.

An increasing number of young adults, between the ages 18 and 30, also have Covid-19 antibodies in their systems. A month ago, that was true for 30 percent of donors in this age group. Now that increased to 40 percent. Young adults largely have not had their turn to be vaccinated yet, so this increase may be more due to people getting and recovering from Covid-19. Sanquin is still investigating this.