MORE than half of adults in England now have some degree of immunity against Covid — thanks mainly to the vaccination blitz.
Data from the Office for National Statistics shows 54.7 per cent of over-16s had antibodies against the virus by mid-March.
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Blood tests reveal nine in ten pensioners also have either natural or jab-induced protection.
Meanwhile, the daily death toll yesterday was 56, down from the 112 reported on Tuesday last week. And the number of new infections was 4,040, down from 5,095 seven days earlier.
The ONS report shows that between 86 and 91.3 per cent of over-65s had antibodies by March 14.
The majority will be as a result of the record- breaking vaccine rollout, with 30.7million Brits now having had a first shot.
It takes up to three weeks for Covid antibodies to appear after infection or vaccination.
They are found in the blood and form part of the body’s natural defences.
Prof Kevin McConway, emeritus professor of applied statistics at The Open University, said: “Although antibody positivity is increasing in all age groups, it has been going up fastest in the older age groups.
“That’s good news — and the rapid increase in antibody levels will occur in younger age groups too as vaccines roll out across the whole adult population.”
Antibody rates in over-16s were slightly lower outside England.
They were 50.5 per cent in Wales, 49.3 per cent in Northern Ireland and 42.6 per cent in Scotland
Separate ONS figures reveal Covid deaths among the over-80s have now fallen by 90 per cent since January.
