Majority of Canadians have now caught COVID — so what does that mean for the future? – CBC

70-80% of younger Canadians estimated to have been infected as of this summer, new data shows

Sep 14, 2022

The majority of Canadians have caught COVID-19 since Omicron and its highly contagious subvariants triggered enormous waves of infection this year — with new estimates suggesting almost two-thirds of the population have had it.

Researchers in British Columbia analyzed close to 14,000 blood samples in the Lower Mainland throughout the pandemic to track antibody levels in the general population, and found a massive shift in the number of infections in the past few months.

The B.C. Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (BCCDC) and University of British Columbia team previously found almost half previously had COVID as of April, but their new data suggests that number continued to skyrocket into the spring and summer.

The findings were published in a preprint study co-authored by B.C. Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry this week, which has not yet been peer reviewed, that found more than 60 per cent of the overall population had antibodies from prior infection by August.

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/omicron-immunity-canada-covid-19-infection-vaccines-1.6581745