Almost all Britons are PROTECTED against Covid because 97% have antibodies to fight the virus

NEARLY all Britons are now protected against Covid with a record 97.5% having antibodies against the virus.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that the proportion of people with immunity has reached the peak of the pandemic.

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They estimate that in the UK, 97.5% of adults have Covid-killing antibodies from being stabbed or infected with the virus.

In Wales it was 96.8%, in Scotland 97.7% and in Northern Ireland 97.4%.

The figures are calculated using blood tests up to December 23.

The NHS’s bumper-boosting drug rollout and high case rates throughout the summer and autumn mean most people in the UK are now vaccinated or infected.

And these antibodies – which seek out and destroy the virus if it enters the body – are helping to prevent the Omicron crisis.

They don’t prevent infection but do prevent most people from getting very sick or dying.

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Professor David Heymann, a virologist at the London School of Hygiene, said its huge level of protection meant the UK would be the first to beat Covid.

He told Chatham House this week: “The UK, is the closest to any country that has come out of the pandemic – if it hasn’t – and having the disease is like four. other coronaviruses”.

He said the UK’s high level of protection was due to previous stab wounds and infections.

Professor Heymann added: “That antibody is blocking the virus. And it now behaves more like an endemic coronavirus than a pandemic.

“Population immunity appears to be keeping the virus and its variants from causing serious illness or death in countries with high population immunity.”