Russians will be able to get a certificate if they have antibodies to coronavirus

Residents of Russia will be able to receive a certificate based on the results of testing for antibodies to coronavirus from February 21. The corresponding order of the Ministry of Health is published on the official portal legal information.

According to the document, the first paragraph of paragraph 1 of Appendix No. 4 to the order will be supplemented with the following text: “and information about the positive results of tests for the presence of antibodies (immunoglobulins G) to the causative agent of a new coronavirus infection (COVID-19) (by any of the methods) contained on single portal.

Now the QR code of Russians will contain information about the vaccination against COVID-19, the coronavirus, or the presence of information about the presence of antibodies that were detected as a result of the test on the Single Portal.

Sufficient level of antibodies

As Aleksey Kuznetsov, assistant to the head of the Russian Ministry of Health, clarified, the main criterion for issuing a QR code will be the very presence of antibodies. There are no clear requirements for their level, he added.

A sufficient amount of antibodies to protect was previously named by the Russian virologist, head of the laboratory of bionanotechnology, microbiology and virology at Novosibirsk State University Sergey Netesov. According to him, for Abbott Architect tests, the upper threshold is 6000-7000, and the Vector-Best system measures up to 500 Binding Antibody Units (BAU) per milliliter. “That is, above 500 is good, below 200 you need to be vaccinated,” he stressed.

At the same time, there is currently no unified system for assessing a sufficient level of antibodies to protect against coronavirus, Netesov added. With the help of the test, only humoral immunity can be measured, but there is also cellular immunity. In this regard, the virologist advised to simply revaccinate every six months.

At the same time, the head physician of the Moscow hospital No. 52, Maryana Lysenko, said that the level of antibodies to the coronavirus could not be measured if it became a seasonal disease. According to her, the need for this will disappear due to the mass vaccination of citizens and the large number of people who have been ill.

New function in public services

Shortly before this, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin spoke about the new function of the public services portal. So, in the near future data on contraindications to vaccination against COVID-19 will become available. In addition, Russians will be able to obtain a confirmation certificate for contraindications on the portal.

Under one condition, those who have been vaccinated with a foreign vaccine can also receive a covid certificate. To do this, you need to be vaccinated with a drug registered in Russia, said Alexei Kurinny, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Health Protection, Candidate of Medical Sciences. “We receive a certificate, but not because we had previously been vaccinated with a foreign vaccine, but because Sputnik Light, for example, allows for a single application to issue a certificate after a certain time and without a previous vaccination with a foreign vaccine,” the deputy explained.