The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released new figures showing that about one in four Americans over the age of 16 had not been infected with COVID-19 as of the end of 2022.
The study, which was updated last week, estimated that 77.5% of Americans had antibodies from having COVID at least once.
Nearly all Americans ― 96.7% ― had COVID antibodies from previous infection, vaccination or both as of Nov. 15, 2022, the figures show.
Seroprevalence, the focus of the survey, estimates the percentage of people with antibodies against a virus in their blood.
The study was conducted on a sample of about 143,000 blood donors to help researchers determine how many Americans had been infected with COVID and/or been vaccinated against the virus and had antibodies. The research shows how those figures vary based on different racial groups and geography, among other things, for each quarter in 2022.
Those 65 and over had the lowest COVID infection-induced seroprevalence among age groups, with just 56.5%, while 87.1% of those aged 16 to 29 had antibodies from previous infection.
Based on geographical location, Iowa had the highest seroprevalence in the country, 90.6%, while Vermont had the lowest, 64.4%. Researchers weren’t able to reach a seroprevalence estimate for Florida given the low number of samples analyzed.
Men had a slightly higher rate of antibodies from previous infection, 79.3%, compared to women, 75.7%.
Meanwhile, Hispanics had the overall largest seroprevalence, 80.6%, while non-Hispanic Asians had the lowest, 66.1%.
The agency has ended its nationwide seroprevalence studies.
Meanwhile, Moderna sought approval from the Food and Drug Administration for its updated COVID shot targeting sub-variant XBB.1.5, following the recommendation of an FDA subcommittee.
XBB.1.5 made up the largest proportion of U.S. COVID cases, 27%, as of June 24, according to the CDC.
Americans are increasingly turning the page from COVID. In April, President Joe Biden ended the nearly three-year national emergency for the virus. New York recently announced it will discontinue its COVID vaccination app, which allowed citizens to show their vaccination status and COVID test results, citing costs, according to WABC.