Nearly every adult in Scotland has Covid-19 antibodies, Office for National Statistics estimates say

Nearly every adult in Scotland would have tested positive for Covid-19 antibodies, official estimates have found.

At the end of March, 99% of those over 15 years old are estimated to have developed the infection-fighting molecules, the Office for National Statistics said.

This is higher than in both England and Wales.

The measurement shows the impact of coronavirus infections and the vaccine programme.

In Scotland, an estimated 99.0% of adults would have tested positive for #COVID19 antibodies in the week beginning 28 March 2022 https://t.co/lD5Atx5Uuq pic.twitter.com/EJTYrtJQBB
— Office for National Statistics (ONS) (@ONS) April 20, 2022

It takes between two and three weeks after infection or vaccination for the body to make enough antibodies to fight the infection.

Antibodies can help prevent individuals from getting the same infection again. Once infected or vaccinated, antibodies remain in the blood at low levels and can decline over time.

In the week beginning March 28, 2022, the percentage of the population that were estimated to have antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 was 98.9% in England, 98.8% in Wales, 99.2% in Northern Ireland, and 99% in Scotland.

Across the UK, the percentages for children ranged from 95.3% to 97.6% for those aged 12 to 15 years old and from 83.7% to 85.9% for those aged eight to 11 years old.

In Scotland, the percentage of people testing positive for Covid-19 has continued to decrease in the week ending April 9.

An estimated one in 17 people are thought to have had the virus as the final legal restrictions designed to reduce the spread were dropped on Easter Monday.