The spread of the delta coronavirus variant has pushed the threshold for herd immunity to nicely more than 80% and potentially approaching 90%, according to an Infectious Diseases Society of America briefing on Tuesday.
That represents a “much higher” bar than preceding estimates of 60% to 70%, simply because delta is twice as transmissible, mentioned Richard Franco, an assistant professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
“It is becoming clear that this is a very dangerous, way more dangerous virus than the original one,” Franco mentioned.
Herd immunity is based on the concept that when a particular percentage of the population has been vaccinated against the virus or gains immunity by a preceding infection, it assists guard the broader population and lower transmission.
Nearly 60% of Americans have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, and about 50% have been completely vaccinated, representing about 165 million men and women, according to CDC information. Some 35 million persons in the U.S., meanwhile, have tested positive for the virus more than the course of the pandemic.
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