More people now have covid-19 antibodies in the UK than ever before, new figures suggest. Around 98.4 per cent of the adult population in England is now estimated to have antibodies, along with 98.3 per cent in both Scotland and Wales and 98.1 per cent in Northern Ireland.
The presence of coronavirus antibodies implies someone has had the infection in the past or has been vaccinated. The latest figures, which have been calculated by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), are for the week ending February 20 and are the highest for all four UK nations since estimates began at the end of 2020.
They also show how antibody levels have jumped in recent months, reflecting the impact of the vaccine booster campaign that began in autumn 2021 but also the surge in coronavirus infections in December and January caused by the Omicron variant. At the start of October 2021, just 61 per cent of adults in England were likely to have Covid-19 antibodies, along with 59.9 per cent in Scotland, 57.8 per cent in Wales and 56.5 per cent in Northern Ireland.
