Herd immunity against Covid-19 will not be reached this year, despite the distribution of the first vaccines, estimates the WHO. Meanwhile, the vaccination campaign continues in France. To date, more than 130,000 people have already received their first dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, while the Moderna vaccine is also beginning to be distributed.
Among the avenues generally considered to counter a pandemic like that of Covid-19 is the principle of herd immunity , also called "herd" immunity or herd immunity. His goal:break the chain of transmission of a virus so that they can "extinguish" the outbreak. To do this, there are two ways to operate:either by letting the population expose themselves (method advocated by Sweden, in particular), or by vaccinating as many people as possible.
In the case of Covid, we do not yet know precisely the optimal vaccination coverage threshold to "extinguish" the pandemic. Some arbitrations have indeed mentioned a 70% threshold of the population, but we still need scientific data to be sure.
In the meantime, vaccination campaigns continue in several countries around the world. To date, just over 138,000 received their first dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine in France. By way of comparison, as of January 9, Spain had already vaccinated more than 270,000 people, and Italy almost 650,000, while some countries, such as China or the United States, had already vaccinated more than one million people at the end of December.
That being said, the global distribution of vaccines is still too uneven, which, of course, only pushes back the deadline for herd immunity. According to the WHO, this will probably not be reached in 2021 , the organization’s chief scientist, Soumya Swaminathan, said on Monday. In fact, she also stressed the importance of continuing to apply protective measures such as physical distancing, hand washing and wearing a mask to control the pandemic, "at least until the end of this year “.
Soumya Swaminathan wanted to salute the "incredible progress made by scientists who have managed to develop several safe and effective vaccines against Covid-19 in less than a year. But, she pointed out, their deployment “takes time “, recalling that we need not just millions, but billions of doses . Also, she calls for "to have a little patience “.
Finally, let's remember that if all the injections carried out in France have so far been with the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, as of this week, some French people will also be able to receive the product designed by Moderna, delivered since Monday in the most affected regions.
The authorization "paves the way for a first delivery of doses this Monday, for a volume of 5,160 vials each containing ten doses of vaccine, which will adds to weekly Pfizer vaccine deliveries “, said the Ministry of Health in a press release. By the end of June, "almost eight million doses ” of the Moderna vaccine should be delivered to France.
