UI Professor Says There Is No Ideal Antibody Standard Against COVID-19 Transmission

Prof Amin Soebandrio/Photo: Antara

JAKARTA - Professor of Microbiology at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Indonesia (FKUI) Prof. Amin Soebandrio said that until now there has been no setting of ideal antibody standards to prevent the risk of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19.

"We don't have standards related to antibodies. The World Health Organization (WHO) has not determined the antibody levels needed to protect people from infection," he said in a virtual talk show that was followed from the BNPB YouTube in Jakarta, Friday 18 March.

He said high antibody levels did not guarantee complete protection for a person from the risk of transmitting COVID-19, because someone who had been vaccinated with the third dose could still be reinfected.

"We assume that those with very high antibody levels will protect. But even with high antibody levels, they can still be re-infected," he said, quoted by Antara.

However, currently, various methods of measuring antibodies are available with various assessment tools. Some people who have been vaccinated have had their body levels measured according to each type of vaccine.

"The 'booster' vaccine has antibody levels that can increase to four thousand units, some are only around 1,700 units," he said.

He said the reinfection situation is not only influenced by antibody levels.

"We must know that high antibody levels are also accompanied by other things. Is four thousand units enough to increase antibody levels or maybe 1,000 is enough to protect someone," he said.

In the same event, the Chairperson of the Central Executive Board of the Indonesian Allergy Immunology Association, Prof. Iris Rengganis, appealed to the public not to be picky about the type of vaccine when participating in vaccination.

He said the vaccine was still proven to provide protection against the Omicron variant which currently dominates in Indonesia.

"Currently complete vaccination protects 57 percent against hospitalization and the 'booster' (booster) is protected 90 percent against hospitalization compared to unvaccinated," he said.

The same applies to death, he said, full-dose vaccine protection reached 29 percent and three-dose protection reached 95 percent compared to those who had not been vaccinated.