Available data show that a large share, but not clearly “(almost) everyone,” has been infected with SARS‑CoV‑2 so far, and the prediction is explicitly about eventual (lifetime) infection, which we cannot yet observe.

Key points:

• In the United States, CDC seroprevalence data from blood donors estimated that by July–September 2022, 96.4% of persons ≥16 years had antibodies from infection or vaccination, but only about 70% had infection‑induced antibodies (infection alone or hybrid immunity). This leaves a substantial minority with no serologic evidence of prior infection at that time.

  • Any antibodies: 96.4%
  • Infection alone: 22.6%
  • Vaccination alone: 26.1%
  • Hybrid (infection + vaccination): 47.7%
  → Infection‑induced total ≈ 70.3%. (cdc.gov)

• A separate CDC analysis using NHANES data (Aug 2021–May 2022) found that 41.6% of adults had anti‑N antibodies, indicating prior infection, and noted that commercial lab surveillance for Jan–Feb 2022 estimated 57.7% infection‑induced seroprevalence for the overall U.S. population. (cdc.gov)

• CDC’s summary of U.S. antibody seroprevalence indicates that by the end of 2023, over 95% of adults and 90% of children had antibodies to SARS‑CoV‑2, but this includes vaccine‑only antibodies and does not mean nearly everyone has been infected at least once. (cdc.gov)

• Globally, the WHO stated in December 2022 that it estimated at least 90% of the world’s population had some level of immunity to SARS‑CoV‑2 from vaccination or prior infection, again reflecting immunity, not universal infection. (theguardian.com)

What this implies for the prediction:

• The normalized prediction is that eventually, essentially everyone (or nearly everyone) will contract COVID‑19.
• As of late 2025, evidence shows most people have either been infected or vaccinated, and a majority have likely been infected at least once, but there is no robust evidence that infection has already reached “almost everyone” (e.g., >90–95%) globally or even nationally.
• Because the claim is about what happens eventually (over people’s lifetimes) and the virus continues to circulate with uncertain long‑term dynamics, we cannot currently determine whether “nearly everyone” will, in fact, be infected at least once.

Therefore, the prediction cannot fairly be scored as either clearly right or clearly wrong at this time; it rests on long‑run outcomes we have not yet observed and on an imprecise threshold for “essentially everyone.” Hence the result is inconclusive (too early to tell).