As public health officials battle an ever-expanding crisis, epidemiologists suggest there is still a long way to go before reaching herd immunity for COVID-19.
Vaccinations are necessary to create that kind of large-scale immunity, as the virus won't just disappear without a vaccine, according to"That is just not going to happen, because it's such a highly transmissible virus," Fauci said in his address to a Senate panel last Tuesday."Even if we get better control over the summer months, it is likely that there will be virus somewhere on this planet that will eventually get back to us.
Thanks to vaccinations, herd immunity has been effective at eliminating polio, smallpox and, until recently, measles.The threshold for achieving herd immunity -- the fraction of the population that needs to be immune to a disease to make person-to-person transmission extremely unlikely or even impossible -- varies from virus to virus. With measles, for example, that threshold is high: 93% to 95%.
MORE: Dr. Anthony Fauci joins list of government officials entering self-quarantine over COVID-19 exposure"It's definitely not a long shot," Fauci said at last week's Senate hearing."It's clearly much more likely than not that somewhere in that time frame, we will get aMany have also been wondering: Do people develop some immune protection after they recover from COVID-19? Experts think that may be the case, but nothing is proven.
The goal is to drive that number down. If the effective reproductive number is greater than one, then the virus can still spread rapidly. The closer the effective reproductive number is to zero, the better.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Shakespeare's Globe theater faces permanent closure due to Covid-19 lockdownWilliam Shakespeare's Globe theater, the famous London playhouse where the playwright's shows were performed, faces permanent closure as a result of coronavirus lockdown measures, the theater and UK politicians have warned.
Read more »
Madeleine Albright Discusses the COVID-19 Crisis of Leadership With Trevor NoahFormer Secretary of State Madeleine Albright discussed the crisis of leadership facing the United States in an interview with Trevor Noah.
Read more »
As Florida begins to reopen state businesses, data shows no significant progress in COVID-19 fightAs more Florida businesses and services reopen across the state, health data has shown that the number of coronavirus cases and deaths has continued to rise at a relatively stable rate.
Read more »
Covid-19 side effects spell trouble for India's democracyBy the time the disease is dealt with, India may have lost far more than just lives and a growing economy Opinion | K S Dakshina Murthy
Read more »
South Korean Research Boosts Theory That Retesting Positive for Covid-19 Is Fluke, Not RelapsePreliminary research by health officials found that a group of patients who tested positive a second time for the coronavirus hadn’t passed the disease on to others.
Read more »