The majority of people and about 75% of those under 18 have COVID-19 antibodies from exposure to the virus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

A CDC report Tuesday showed that “seroprevalence,” that is, the presence of antibodies, skyrocketed in young people from December 2021 through February 2022, capturing the worst of the winter omicron wave. Slightly more than 74% of adolescents 12 to 17 have antibodies, while that rate is even higher in children 11 and younger at more than 75%.

Seroprevalence in the population overall increased to about 58% from September to December.

The findings illustrate the extent to which the coronavirus ripped through the population during the omicron wave and the depth of the population immunity now enjoyed by the United States, especially when considered along with vaccinations, although the agency cautioned that the presence of antibodies does not necessarily entail protection from future disease.

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The CDC arrived at the results by sampling blood taken at commercial labs.

The increase in antibody prevalence was most stark in the age groups with the lowest vaccination rates. For instance, only about 28% of children five to 11 have been fully vaccinated.

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Meanwhile, the increase was smallest among adults 65 and older, most of whom are vaccinated.

“By February 2022, evidence of previous Covid-19 infections substantially increased among every age group,” said Dr. Kristie Clarke, the CDC researcher who led the study.

Widespread population immunity gained after more than two years of living with high levels of community transmission appears to have spared the U.S. from the kinds of outbreaks seen previously, as well as the one currently plaguing China. Still, cases in the U.S. have ticked up modestly over the past month to a weekly average of about 44,000 new infections confirmed daily.