In Guayaquil, the Ecuadoran metropolis where bodies were left on the streets, scientists have cautiously speculated that collective immunity has been reached. But whatever the dynamic, scientists and health officials are starting to wonder whether early prognostications about herd immunity overshot the mark. “It was a tragedy.”‘It was quite unexpected’The idea of herd immunity has long been used to justify and explain the purpose of mass vaccination campaigns. Heterogeneity, researchers say, reduces the percentage of infection at which herd immunity may be achieved. In a paper published in Science in June, he and other researchers estimated that population heterogeneity shaves the coronavirus herd immunity rate to 43 percent.

Source: Washington Post August 24, 2020 10:04 UTC