In February 2022, at least 58% of the American population had contracted Covid since the start of the pandemic, according to a study by the American Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) published on Tuesday April 26 and based on a review of 'antibody.
To discover
LIVE - War in Ukraine: follow minute by minute the evolution of the conflict
YOUR COMMUNE - The results of the second round of the presidential election in your area
Read alsoVice President of the United States Kamala Harris positive for Covid-19
This percentage equates to nearly 190 million people in the United States, a number far higher than the 80 million officially recorded cases, most of which are therefore undiagnosed, asymptomatic or not registered with authorities.
About 75% of the population under the age of 18 contracted the virus, according to the study, with a colossal jump in cases - especially among children - during the wave of the Omicron variant last winter.
“Vaccination offers additional protection”
The nationwide survey looked for the presence of antibodies against the nucleocapsid protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which the immune system only creates in response to contamination.
Current vaccines train the immune system to create antibodies against the Spike protein.
Each month from September 2021 to January 2022, the study examined nearly 75,000 blood samples across the country, as well as 45,000 in February.
The researchers then produced national estimates using statistical methods to weight age, gender and geographic distribution.
Read alsoCovid 19: more deaths in 2021 than in 2020 in the United States
"
We didn't look at whether people had a level of antibodies from a previous (Covid) infection that was sufficient to provide protection against re-infection or the development of a severe form of the disease
," said Kristie Clarke, co-lead of the national Covid-19 serology task force, during a conference call with reporters.
"
Previous infection has been found to provide some protection against severe disease and hospitalizations - and vaccination, either before or after infection, provides additional protection
," she added.
It remains essential to be up to date with your vaccination against Covid-19, underlined Kristie Clarke.
The United States currently offers a fourth dose of the vaccine to people aged 50 and over, and a third dose to people below that age.
The Pfizer-BioNTech alliance also announced on Tuesday that it had filed an authorization request with the American Medicines Agency (FDA) for a third dose of its anti-Covid vaccine in children aged 5 to 11.
Children five and under are the only ones still not eligible for vaccination.
"
The best way to protect them is to make sure they are surrounded by people taking preventative measures, like being up to date on their vaccines
," noted Kristie Clarke.
Read alsoThe United States has provided 500 million Covid vaccines to the rest of the world
Nationally, the number of cases is going up due to the Omicron BA.2 and BA.2.12.1 subvariants.
Despite an increasing number of hospitalizations, the number of deaths continues to fall and currently stands at almost 300 a day.
The United States should officially reach the symbolic mark of one million deaths in the coming weeks.