\nAbout 96% of Americans over the age of 16 have some immunity to COVID, a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report found.\n<\/p>\n
\nThe study, published on June 2 in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report<\/em> (MMWR<\/em>), included data from June to September 2022. Over 26% of people had immunity from COVID vaccination, and another 22% had immunity from COVID infection alone. But nearly 48% had hybrid immunity, from both vaccines and a prior infection.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cIt is good news that, through vaccination and then as we progressed through the pandemic, the vast majority of people have some sort of immunity,\u201d Commander Jefferson Jones, MD, MPH, USPHS, report author and medical officer with the CDC\u2019s Coronavirus and Other Respiratory Viruses Division, told Health<\/em>. \u201cThis likely has contributed to the decreasing level of hospitalizations and severe disease that we\u2019ve seen.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nThe findings also provide more insight into the efficacy of vaccination programs throughout the pandemic. People over age 65 had the lowest rate of hybrid immunity and similarly low levels of infection-related immunity.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \nThis \u201creflects a success in public health and other efforts to prevent infection in this age group,\u201d Dr. Jones explained.\n<\/p>\n \nHere\u2019s what experts had to say about what high COVID immunity means for the future of the virus, and what people can do to make sure they\u2019re protected.\n<\/p>\n Getty Images \/ d3sign<\/p>\n <\/span> <\/span> <\/p>\n \nIn order to determine an accurate representation of how many Americans have some COVID immunity, the CDC has been looking at blood donations since July 2020.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cWe use antibody tests and self-reported vaccine history from a cohort or group of over 70,000 blood donors that are followed over time,\u201d Dr. Jones said. \u201cThrough this, we were able to estimate the proportion of people that have antibodies or immunity, either from infection, from vaccination, or both.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nThis estimate found a whopping 96.4% immunity rate among Americans.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \nAnd because this data was collected between July and September 2022, it\u2019s possible that now even more than 96% of Americans have COVID antibodies. The percentage has been increasing since the spring of 2021, when 68% of the country had immunity.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cThere\u2019s been people who\u2019ve been newly infected since that time. There are also potentially some people who\u2019ve been newly vaccinated. So we\u2019re probably above 96%,\u201d Jeffrey Klausner, MD, professor of medicine, infectious diseases, and population and public health sciences at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, told Health<\/em>.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cThat means there are even more people who are protected against hospitalization, severe disease,\u201d he emphasized.\n<\/p>\n \nThe report also found that almost 86% of the unvaccinated had infection-induced immunity as compared to 64% of vaccinated people. Those who were unvaccinated were also more likely to get a new COVID infection.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n Do You Still Need to Test for COVID-19?<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span> <\/p>\n \nBesides providing a clearer picture of COVID\u2019s reach in the population, the report also sheds light on the different types of immunity, and where Americans' antibodies are coming from.\n<\/p>\n \nHybrid immunity\u2014antibodies from a vaccine and a prior infection\u2014is considered the strongest, said Dr. Jones.<\/span> This is good news, considering it\u2019s also the most prevalent.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \nBut a person is still protected if they have antibodies from just a prior infection or just a COVID vaccine. This is the case for 22% and 26% of the population, respectively.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \nThough both are protective, vaccine-induced immunity is preferred in the eyes of many medical professionals.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cA vaccination is certainly a much safer method to gain immunity. Infection carries with it a risk of transmission to those around you, a risk of severe disease, death, long COVID, for example,\u201d said Dr. Jones.\n<\/p>\n \nRegardless of the type of immunity a person has, it\u2019s important to remember that having antibodies does not completely protect a person from COVID.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cOnce you\u2019re infected, the test we use can detect antibodies for at least a year and potentially several years,\u201d clarified Dr. Jones. \u201cThe presence of an antibody doesn\u2019t necessarily mean you can\u2019t get infected or you can\u2019t get severe disease.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nBecause of this, it can actually be pretty challenging to quantify the degree of COVID protection that exists in the U.S.\n<\/p>\n \nYes, 96% of Americans have some COVID immunity, but the level of protection may vary widely from person to person since immunity\u2014regardless of whether it\u2019s from an infection or a vaccine\u2014wanes over time.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \nTo determine the percentage of Americans with high protection against severe COVID, researchers would have to know \u201cthe number of times a person has been infected, the number of times someone\u2019s been vaccinated, how much time has passed since their infection or vaccination, and then how well these match up with the current viral strains that are circulating,\u201d Dr. Jones explained.\n<\/p>\n \nHe added that the number of people who are highly protected really depends on transmission rates and on how many people stay up to date on their vaccines.\n<\/p>\n Does Natural Immunity Protect Against the SARS-CoV-2 Variants, or Do I Still Need the Vaccine?<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span> <\/p>\n \nThe strength of this immunity may vary, but at the very least, almost all people have some experience fighting off the virus, meaning they\u2019ll be less likely to get severely sick as a result.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cThe overwhelming amount of immunity in the population tells us we need to be much less concerned about serious disease and overwhelming hospitals,\u201d said Dr. Klausner. \u201cWhile we can continue monitoring, we would not anticipate the major disruptions that occurred in society [in 2020].\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nBut on the more individual level, it can be challenging to figure out how strong each person\u2019s immunity really is.\n<\/p>\n \nThere are antibody tests, but they\u2019re not yet available over the counter, Dr. Jones said. People can test at local clinics to see if they have antibodies, or can get more detailed information from tests done with an infectious disease expert, Dr. Klausner added.\n<\/p>\n \nBut the best thing people can do to make sure they have solid immunity is simply to stay up to date on COVID vaccines, experts agreed.\n<\/p>\n \nEveryone ages 6 and older is considered up to date on their COVID shots once they’ve received one dose of the updated bivalent booster, but people who are older than 65 or who are immunocompromised can get additional doses.<\/span> So far, only 17% of the U.S. population has met this metric.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cWhen people get their flu shot, they can also get a regular COVID shot once a year,\u201d Dr. Klausner encouraged. \u201cThat will help boost and maintain their antibodies.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nEventually, we may see more universal COVID shots that protect against all COVID variants, but we\u2019re not there yet, Dr. Klausner noted. Until then, scientists will keep updating COVID shots, likely annually, to keep people safe from whichever variants are most prominent at the time.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cThe most important thing you can do is stay up to date on your vaccination,\u201d Dr. Jones confirmed. \u201cIt\u2019s the safest way to protect yourself against severe illness.\u201d\n<\/p>\n FDA Panel Endorses Updated COVID Shots for All, Regardless of Vaccination Status<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A new CDC report found that approximately 96% of Americans, age 16 and older, have some COVID-19 immunity. The data used to calculate that percentage was collected from July 2022 to September 2022\u2014meaning, the country could have now surpassed that 96%. Experts note that while there are a variety of different types of immunity someone […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17251,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1039,410],"tags":[1040,116],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/1millionbestdownloads.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17251"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/1millionbestdownloads.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/1millionbestdownloads.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1millionbestdownloads.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1millionbestdownloads.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17251"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/1millionbestdownloads.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17251\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1millionbestdownloads.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/1millionbestdownloads.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1millionbestdownloads.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1millionbestdownloads.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Young](\"https:\/\/www.health.com\/thmb\/INXmivWU76N9D7z03uqR0C5e654=\/1500x0\/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()\/GettyImages-1369495328-da56b9c0fbe646389d4f71cd5c0e4965.jpg\")
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\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Calculating National Immunity <\/span> <\/h2>\n
What Does COVID Immunity Look Like? <\/span> <\/h2>\n
Informing Our Understanding of COVID Going Forward <\/span> <\/h2>\n