COVID: Study shows impact of hybrid immunity in Canada

A new report shedding light on how the pandemic impacted Canada has found high immunity levels among the population --- but amid speculation that a new COVID-19 variant descended from the Omicron strain could cause a spike in infections, should Canadians be concerned?

The study found that high vaccine coverage and population immunity were "insufficient" to slow the "unprecedented increase" in infections from the Omicron variants and subvariants.

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"Most people… got sick during the Omicron wave, "Dr. Christopher Labos, epidemiologist and cardiologist, told CTV News Channel on Monday. "That's where we're at now, with about 76 per cent of the population that has had some COVID infection."

Labos says the data from the study means about "one in four Canadians never had COVID" which is a statistic that "is a lot higher" than many experts would have predicted.

"You had a lot of people saying, 'You know, prior infection is almost 100 per cent,'" Labos says. "It's actually not."

He recommends that people keep up to date with vaccinations because COVID-19 is "not quite over" and warned Canada could see several respiratory viruses, like influenza and RSV, circulating in the fall once again.

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"The vaccine rollout that's going to be happening in the fall… that's going to be an Omicron subvariant-specific booster," Labos says. "There's very good reason to believe there is going to be good protection."

So should those at risk, such as Canadians with underlying medical conditions or who those have never had COVID-19, be concerned about the fall?

Labos says that he's doesn't think concern "is the right word," but Canadians should be "mindful" of the fact that COVID-19 continues to circulate.

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"I would make the argument that you should do as much as possible to protect yourself, because nobody wants to spend 14 hours in the emergency room."

Click the link at the top of this article to watch the full interview with Marcia MacMillan.