According to the experts of the World Health Organization (WHO), a vaccination rate of 60 to 70 percent of the population is necessary for an effective fight against the coronavirus pandemic. There are some studies that have shown that this number is necessary to achieve what is known as herd immunity, said WHO’s top vaccination expert, Katherine O’Brien. “Many people would be immune and would protect others,” said O’Brien in Geneva today. Only at such a vaccination rate can the virus no longer spread well.
But the number of vaccinated people alone is not the decisive factor, as the experts observed in large measles outbreaks in some African countries last year. „It’s always about where exactly the virus is and how big the protective wall against it is in society,“ said O’Brien. There are also still many questions, such as to what extent a vaccination against Sars-CoV-2 reduces the severity of a possible infection and how well it can prevent transmission of the virus.
„The vaccination will have a big impact, but I think no one can promise eradication of the virus until we understand much more about it,“ said WHO Emergency Relief Coordinator Mike Ryan.
