Will achieving herd immunity be a road to success to end the COVID-19 pandemic?

Abstract

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the availability of several different new vaccines, their varying supply levels, effectiveness, and immunity duration across different ethnic populations, together with natural infection rates, will have an impact on when each country can reach herd immunity (ranging from 15.3% to 77.1%). Here we estimate the population proportions still required to gain immunity (ranging from 0.01% to 48.8%) to reach an overall herd immunity level to stop the exponential virus spread in 32 selected countries.

Keywords: Basic reproductive number; COVID-19; Herd immunity; Vaccination.