Estimated 73 per cent of U.S., for now, immune to COVID-19 Omicron variant: Is it enough? – CTV
February 17, 2022
The Omicron wave that assaulted the United States this winter also bolstered its defences, leaving enough protection against the coronavirus that future spikes will likely require much less — if any — dramatic disruption to society.
Millions of individual Americans’ immune systems now recognize the virus and are primed to fight it off if they encounter Omicron, or even another variant.
About half of eligible Americans have received booster shots, there have been nearly 80 million confirmed infections overall and many more infections have never been reported. One influential model uses those factors and others to estimate that 73 per cent of Americans are, for now, immune to Omicron, the dominant variant, and that could rise to 80 per cent by mid-March.
