Half of the Canadian population — more than 17 million people — were infected with Omicron in only five months starting in December 2021, a report by the COVID-19 Immunity Task Force (CITF) says.
Spectators take in the view of the Toronto Pride Parade on Sunday June 26, 2022. A new report revealed that the highest level of Omicron infection was found in young adults, aged 17 to 24.
The results are based on population seropositivity — “the proportion of people with antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in their blood,” the report explained — using data from 21 studies that CITF reviewed. The report showed that prior to Omicron, just seven per cent of Canadians had antibodies from being infected by the virus. The proportion rose by 45 per cent from December 2021 to May 2022.
That’s an average of around 100,000 infections per day, said CITF Executive Director Dr. Tim Evans in a statement.
© COVID-19 Immunity Task ForceThis figure provided by the COVID-19 Immunity Task Force shows infection-acquired seropositivity for all Canadian provinces for all age groups, combined.
“Omicron has been a tsunami,” he said, adding that new sublineages of the virus have been spreading since then, pushing the percentage of Canadians who have been infected “well above” 50 per cent.
The analysis of the studies also found that Canadians of all ages and from all provinces were affected by the virus. Around 50 to 60 per cent of those in western and central provinces showed signs of being previously infected by the end of May, compared to Atlantic Canada, at over 35 per cent. No data was available from the three territories, the report said.
© COVID-19 Immunity Task ForceThis figure provided by the COVID-19 Immunity Task Force shows infection-acquired seropositivity estimates by province.
The highest level of infection was found in young adults, aged 17 to 24, based off of donations made to Canadian Blood Services. Sixty five per cent of them had antibodies at the end of May, the report revealed. Twenty-five to 39-year-olds followed closely behind, at 57 per cent. Other age groups were still affected, but the percentage declined as the age increased. Only 31 per cent of Canadians who were 60 and older had antibodies in their blood.
© COVID-19 Immunity Task ForceThis figure provided by the COVID-19 Immunity Task Force shows infection-acquired seropositivity estimates by median age.
“Millions of Canadians now have hybrid immunity from a combination of COVID-19 vaccines and an infection,” said CITF Co-Chair Dr. David Naylor. “Unfortunately, emerging evidence suggests that most of these individuals remain at risk of re-infection with viruses in the Omicron lineage.”
Even though vaccines are helpful against infection, there are still millions of adults who haven’t had a third shot, he added. This comes after federal health officials urged Canadians to get boosted last week.
The report, which was funded by the Government of Canada, differentiated between antibodies that occurred naturally as a reaction to being infected by the virus and antibodies created by the vaccine. They were thus able to determine which antibodies were a sign of past infection “to track the magnitude of the Omicron wave.”
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