Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Herd Immunity Debate Flares As Experts Warn It Will Be Tough To Achieve
Fox News: ‘Herd Immunity’ Looking Unlikely In US, Report Says
There is a growing belief among scientists that the U.S. will not achieve ‘herd immunity’ when it comes to the coronavirus and there will be new flare-ups for the foreseeable future, but becoming less of a threat to the public. The New York Times reported that the reason is that the virus is mutating at a faster rate than vaccine jabs are being given. Rustom Antia, an evolutionary biologist at Emory University, told the paper that the virus is "unlikely to go away." (DeMarche, 5/4)
The New York Times' Original Story: Reaching ‘Herd Immunity’ Is Unlikely In The U.S., Experts Now Believe
Voice Of America: COVID Herd Immunity Point Still Unclear, Biden Says
U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday will update the country on how it is faring in the battle against COVID-19 and the effort to get more Americans vaccinated against the coronavirus. The president, following remarks on Monday afternoon at a community college in Virginia, was asked by a reporter when the country will reach herd immunity — meaning, when will a sufficient percentage of the population be immune to the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 because of previous exposure or inoculation. "There’s a debate about what constitutes herd immunity," he said. "Is it 70 percent, 68 percent, 81 percent?” (Herman, 5/3)
And experts weigh in —
CNN: Not Reaching Herd Immunity By Fall Could Have Dire Consequences, Expert Says
Millions of Americans are receiving Covid-19 vaccine doses every day, but one medical expert thinks the nation may not reach herd immunity this year if more people can't be persuaded to get a shot. "What I really worry about is that those people who are already on the fence don't get vaccinated (and) we don't reach herd immunity come the fall," CNN medical analyst Dr. Leana Wen told CNN. "And then with the winter ... we have a big resurgence, maybe we have variants coming in from other countries, and we could start this whole process all over again and have another huge pandemic come the winter." (Ellis and Maxouris, 5/4)
USA Today: Vaccinations Could Contain COVID, Lower US Cases Without Herd Immunity
It may not take true "herd immunity" to see a dramatic drop in COVID-19 cases. Some researchers say another 30 to 40 million first shots could be enough for the United States to reach a vaccine tipping point and containment of the disease caused by the coronavirus. "It's just another 10% to 15% more people," said Dr. Eric Topol, a professor of molecular medicine at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California. (Weise, 5/4)
Boston.com: ‘This Is Not Tragic’: Dr. Ashish Jha Says Not To Panic Over The U.S. Potentially Not Reaching Herd Immunity
If you’re alarmed after reading that public experts are saying the United States isn’t likely to reach herd immunity with COVID-19, Dr. Ashish Jha has a message for you. “This is not tragic,” the dean of the Brown University School of Public Health wrote on Twitter Monday. The doctor said many are misunderstanding the recent New York Times article that examines the predictions from experts on the herd immunity threshold in the United States — the point when enough Americans would be protected from the virus to make person-to-person spread of the disease unlikely. (Dwyer, 5/3)
CNN: Life May Feel More Normal Even Before Herd Immunity Is Reached
As with any disease, how many people need to be immune to provide community protection depends on how infectious it is. For Covid-19, experts think the magic number could be anywhere between 70 to 90% of a population immune to the virus. The world is nowhere near that level. (Christensen, 5/3)
The Boston Globe: The Lack Of COVID Herd Immunity Could Lock In The Red State-Blue State Divide For A Long Time
A year after the United States came under the grip of the coronavirus it should be clear that, no, the universal sacrifice from a pandemic did not bring the nation together as some suggested it might. It only made the nation more polarized politically and culturally. And now something else should be evident: An emerging but striking divide in vaccination rates among red and blue states could mean the coronavirus and the political division that comes with it are going to stick around for a while. (Pindell, 5/4)
