COVID-19 herd immunity unlikely in 2021, says WHO

COVID-19 herd immunity unlikely in 2021, says WHO

The World Health Organization's chief scientist warned that even as numerous countries start rolling out vaccination programs to stop COVID-19, herd immunity is highly unlikely this year.At a media briefing on Monday, Dr. Soumya Swaminathan said it was critical countries and their populations maintain strict social distancing and other outbreak control measures for the foreseeable future. In recent weeks, Britain, the U.S., France, Canada, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands and others have begun vaccinating millions of their citizens against the coronavirus, The Associated Press (AP) reported.Scientists typically estimate that a vaccination rate of about 70 percent is needed for herd immunity, where entire populations are protected against a disease. But some fear that the extremely infectious nature of COVID-19 could require a significantly higher threshold.Comments Read Next1 hour agoBahrain: Active cases rise to 2,878 with 321 new infections15 hours agoSaudi: Active coronavirus cases fall below 2,000 mark20 hours agoOman reports 172 new cases and no deaths20 hours agoUAE reports 2,404 COVID-19 cases and 3 deaths23 hours agoBahrain: 50% of existing cases are contacts from family gatherings1 day agoBahrain: Random COVID-19 testing locations for January 111 day agoBahrain detects 241 new cases and 249 recoveries1 day agoKuwait records 414 new COVID-19