Over half the people donating blood to the Sanquin blood donation service now have coronavirus antibodies, the organisation has confirmed.

The percentage of donors with antibodies rose in May from 32% to 54%, largely driven by the vaccination programme, Sanquin said. The agency carries out checks on 2,000 donations a week, on behalf of the health ministry.

Nine in 10 donors over the age of 70 have antibodies, reflecting both the vaccination programme and the age of donors. The figure is 85% for people in their 60s and 54% among people in their 50s, who are currently being vaccinated.

Nevertheless, the increase is also notable among donors aged 18 to 30, most of whom have not yet been vaccinated. Some 40% of them now have coronavirus antibodies, a rise of 10 percentage points on the previous month. Further research into the reasons for this is currently being carried out, Sanquin said.

So far, nearly 9.5 million doses of vaccine have been administered in the Netherlands, according to the government’s coronavirus dashboard. The figure includes both first and second jabs.

One million doses are set to be given this week and people born in the early 1980s are currently being called up. At least 70% of the adult population is expected to agree to being vaccinated.