The potential for vaccination-induced herd immunity against the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 variant

Euro Surveill. 2021 May;26(20). doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2021.26.20.2100428.ABSTRACTWe assess the feasibility of reaching the herd immunity threshold against SARS-CoV-2 through vaccination, considering vaccine effectiveness (VE), transmissibility of the virus and the level of pre-existing immunity in populations, as well as their age structure. If highly transmissible variants of concern become dominant in areas with low levels of naturally-acquired immunity and/or in populations with large proportions of < 15 year-olds, control of infection without non-pharmaceutical interventions may only be possible with a VE ≥ 80%, and coverage extended to children.PMID:34018481 | DOI:10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2021.26.20.2100428

Source: Euro Surveill - May 21, 2021 Category: Infectious Diseases Authors: David Hodgson Stefan Flasche Mark Jit Adam J Kucharski CMMID COVID-19 Working Group Centre for Mathematical Modelling of Infectious Disease (CMMID) COVID-19 Working Group Source Type: research