High Prevalence of Antibodies Against COVID-19 Within the General Population: Evidence from Nairobi and Kilifi

Abstract

By May 2022, 69% of individuals residing within the Kilifi Health and Demographic System (HDSS) and 91% residing within the Nairobi Urban HDSS had evidence of an immune response to COVID-19 resulting from natural infection and/or vaccination, i.e., anti-spike IgG antibodies.The majority of HDSS residents with anti-spike IgG antibodies appear to have developed them as a result of natural infection, as only 11% - 27% of study participants reported receiving one or more doses of COVID-19 vaccine by May 2022.