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Source: https://montrealgazette.com/news/lo...-canadians-being-infected-with-covid-19-study
Omicron led to 76 per cent of Canadians being infected with COVID-19: study
"The fact that antibodies wane after about six months and the fact that this virus is always mutating means that although we lived through the public health emergency, we’re not out of the woods."
Author of the article: René Bruemmer
Published Aug 14, 2023 • Last updated 2 hours ago • 3 minute read
In the year after COVID-19 first hit Canada, fewer than one in 100 people were infected with the disease. Even after 20 months, only nine per cent of Canadians had contracted COVID-19 by November 2021.
That would all change with Omicron. Half a year after the new, highly contagious variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus first started cropping up in December 2021, nearly half the population would become infected, despite the fact most Canadians were fully vaccinated. By March 2023, after 16 months dominated by the variant, 76 per cent of Canadians had developed immunity due to an infection. Rates were even higher among younger segments of the population.
The findings on infection-fuelled immunity — as opposed to vaccine protection — were published Monday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ), based on a study carried out by the COVID-19 Immunity Task Force (CITF), with the help of a Canada-wide team of collaborating scientists.
“Despite high vaccine coverage in Canada, the rate of infection rose rapidly with the highly contagious Omicron variant,” said Bruce Mazer, study co-lead and senior scientist at the research institute of the McGill University Health Centre. “After six months with the Omicron variant circulating in Canada, in mid-June 2022, infection-acquired seroprevalence had risen to 47 per cent, with an average monthly increase of 6.4 per cent.”..
Omicron led to 76 per cent of Canadians being infected with COVID-19: study
"The fact that antibodies wane after about six months and the fact that this virus is always mutating means that although we lived through the public health emergency, we’re not out of the woods."
Author of the article: René Bruemmer
Published Aug 14, 2023 • Last updated 2 hours ago • 3 minute read
In the year after COVID-19 first hit Canada, fewer than one in 100 people were infected with the disease. Even after 20 months, only nine per cent of Canadians had contracted COVID-19 by November 2021.
That would all change with Omicron. Half a year after the new, highly contagious variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus first started cropping up in December 2021, nearly half the population would become infected, despite the fact most Canadians were fully vaccinated. By March 2023, after 16 months dominated by the variant, 76 per cent of Canadians had developed immunity due to an infection. Rates were even higher among younger segments of the population.
The findings on infection-fuelled immunity — as opposed to vaccine protection — were published Monday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ), based on a study carried out by the COVID-19 Immunity Task Force (CITF), with the help of a Canada-wide team of collaborating scientists.
“Despite high vaccine coverage in Canada, the rate of infection rose rapidly with the highly contagious Omicron variant,” said Bruce Mazer, study co-lead and senior scientist at the research institute of the McGill University Health Centre. “After six months with the Omicron variant circulating in Canada, in mid-June 2022, infection-acquired seroprevalence had risen to 47 per cent, with an average monthly increase of 6.4 per cent.”..