> CDC study finds over 80% of US adults have some immunity to COVID, notes prior infection offers similar protection as vaccine

A recent survey of blood donations has found that more than 80% of Americans over the age of 16 have some level of immunity to COVID-19 — a figure that could have massive implications on the country's public health policy moving forward.

The survey, conducted by researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, also found that twice as many people have been infected by the pathogen than have been officially counted, CNN reported. As of Thursday, more than 39 million Americans have tested positive for the virus.

According to CNN, the CDC team, led by Dr. Jefferson Jones, embarked on the study to "determine how close the US might be to some kind of herd immunity." Though the news outlet was sure to mention the researchers "do not claim to have any kind of handle on that yet."

They accomplished the task by testing about 1.4 million blood samples provided by 17 different blood collection organizations from all 50 states.

Upon studying the samples, the team found that between July 2020 and May 2021, the percentage of blood samples that carried SARS-CoV-2 spike antibodies increased from 3.5% to 83.3% over that time period.