Vaccination Rates Improving, Particularly Among the Seniors, but Herd Immunity is a Moving Target

As reported by Kaiser Healthcare News, last Tuesday, the United States hit another milestone with 90% of people 65 and older being at least partially vaccinated against the disease. That’s more than 49 million seniors vaccinated. Overall, 70% of adults have been inoculated, at least partly, and nearly 68% of people over 12.

Despite improved vaccination rates, another article by Medscape Medical News, reported that, “Because the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 spreads more easily than the original virus, the proportion of the population that needs to be vaccinated to reach herd immunity could be upwards of 80% or more, experts say. The original SARS-CoV-2 virus required an estimated 67% of the population to be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity. For Delta, those threshold estimates go well over 80% and may be approaching 90%.”