File photo.
More than half of the residents in Massachusetts and Rhode Island were infected with COVID during the omicron surge, a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows.
More than 52% of people in Massachusetts have been infected with COVID since the omicron surge began in December, while more than 53% of the population were infected in Rhode Island.
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Elsewhere in New England, 44% were infected in Connecticut and 35% in Maine, compared with just 29% in Vermont. Nationwide, nearly 60% of people contracted COVID-19 in a matter of months.
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Researchers said the data shows just how fast the omicron variant spread. In fact, the study showed that in December of last year only a third of Americans had COVID, but that skyrocketed to nearly 60% in the first part of 2022.
The biggest spike was among children under 12 years old. About 75% of children were infected in that time, the CDC said.
Researchers are still trying to figure out how long natural immunity lasts against COVID. Federal health officials maintain, however, that vaccines are still the best way to stay protected.
