A study from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania recently showed that most young people have already built up at least a certain basic immunity to corona. With the publication of a new study, the Robert Koch Institute has now confirmed this impression for those over 18 as well. According to this, 92 percent of adults in Germany already had antibodies at the turn of the year 2021/22.
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Over 90 percent of Germans were vaccinated or recovered
The study was carried out by researchers from the Institute for Applied Social Sciences (Infas) with the help of the Socio-Economic Panel. This was the second round of the survey since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020. A total of 11,162 people aged 14 and over had to fill out a questionnaire and send in a blood sample between November 2021 and February 2022. Around 80 percent of the samples were evaluated in November and December, so according to the researchers the results primarily reflect the situation at the end of the year.
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Above all, the basic immunization through a vaccination or a survived infection was high at this point in time. 92 percent of those over 18 had IgG antibodies against the corona spike protein. Among the 14 to 17 year olds it was 86 percent. Evaluations of the questionnaires showed that around 90 percent of the adults in Germany had received at least one vaccination and had further antigen contact through vaccination or infection.
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Already at the turn of the year 10 percent recovered – every second infection not recorded
According to the authors of the study, at least three antigen contacts are necessary for very good protection. A third of the adults had such triple protection – either through vaccination and boosters or various combinations of infections and vaccinations.
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Another goal of the study was to get data on so-called under-reporting, i.e. the question of how many infections had previously been missing from the official statistics. According to the data now presented, this affected almost every second infection by the end of the year. The number of those who have recovered is about 1.5 times to twice as high as previously assumed. At the turn of the year, 11 percent of young people (14-17 years), 11.3 percent of adults (18-59 years) and 7 percent of seniors over 60 had been infected at least once.
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Immune Escape by Omicron – 2022 more infected than ever
Since the beginning of the year, more people have been infected with the virus than ever before. This means: Omicron and its subvariants can effectively evade the previously built up immunity.
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