Think you’re immune to COVID-19 after getting sick? Maybe not, new research shows

At least 40 per cent of Canadians have been infected with the Omicron variant of COVID-19, but new data shows not everyone who gets sick will develop immunity.

At least 40 per cent of Canadians have been infected with the Omicron variant of COVID-19, according to new research compiled by Canada’s COVID-19 Immunity Task Force.

But despite this “Omicron tsunami” in Canada, as task force experts call it, emerging data shows not everyone who gets sick with COVID-19 will develop immunity from the infection.

In fact, one in every eight people who contract the virus do not develop antibodies in their blood from their illness. And children are half as likely to develop immunity from an infection, according to the data released in June.

“So forget going to some kind of ‘COVID party,’” said Dr. Catherine Hankins, a professor at McGill University in the Faculty of Medicine and co-chair of Canada’s COVID-19 Immunity Task Force.

“Infection is not a viable strategy to achieve or maintain immunity.”

This is just one of many findings from research studies funded by the COVID-19 Immunity Task Force that offer new insights into the virus that has caused a global pandemic, including how the virus is evolving and how this is affecting the immunity provided by vaccines and by infections.

The task force, made up of scientists and experts from universities and hospitals across the country, was created in April 2020 by the federal government. Its mandate is to determine the extent of COVID-19 infection in Canada, to learn about how immunity is affected by infection and to provide information to governments and decision-makers about the virus, based on data and research.

One thing that has become clear in recent months is that Omicron and its offshoot subvariants have developed a formidable ability to evade immunity — whether from vaccinations or previous infections, according to data published by the task force.