New Data Says It’ll Take About 5 Years for Global Herd Immunity Even With Vaccines

By
Megan
-

It’s going to take a while before physical concerts return to our shores, clubbing returns to normal and masks return to the bottom of our drawers. 

If you haven’t already accepted that fact, it’s best to come to terms with it soon.

And perhaps sign up for a Disney+ account while you’re at it to make up for your significant dialling down of social interaction. 

Because new research has indicated that even with the seemingly rapid rate of vaccination that’s currently underway, it will still take about five years for us to reach global herd immunity. 

New Data Says It’ll Take About 5 Years for Global Herd Immunity Even With Vaccines

According to data obtained by Bloomberg as of Sunday (28 Feb), it will take 4.6 years to ensure that 75% of the world’s population has received the full two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. 

Additionally, recent data estimates that in order for herd immunity to be attained, 70%-90% of the world’s population will have to be vaccinated. 

According to this article by ST, the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan has declared upfront that herd immunity is not going to be reached in 2021 and that it will take time for vaccines to be rolled out on a global scale.

Over 250,000 people have received the first dose of the vaccine in Singapore. According to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, the whole population of Singapore is well on the way to becoming immunised within this year as long as supplies reach our shores on schedule, as reported by ST. 

In addition, 40 vaccination centres will be up and running by the end of the following month, with each planning to administer approximately 2,000 injections daily. 

However, experts are warning that life will certainly not return to pre-COVID normalcy this year and that measures such as the wearing of masks and enhanced hygiene habits have to be kept. 

So yes, please keep washing your hands and wearing your masks, and no, you may not invite your entire kampong to your house for a Disney+ marathon, so be sure to choose your friends and relatives wisely during this period. 

S’pore Not Exiting Phase 3 Anytime Soon 

I can hear the nationwide groans, but Phase 3 is here to stay. 

According to Senior Minister of State for Health Janil Puthucheary, Singapore will not be exiting Phase 3 “anytime soon”.

He has said that we will move on from Phase 3 only when three conditions have been met:

  1. Evidence on the effectiveness of vaccines in preventing future outbreaks has been obtained
  2. A substantial proportion of the population has been inoculated
  3. The rest of the world has managed to keep the virus under control 

You can read more about it here. 

Until then, I guess we’ll just have to keep our friends and family close (but not too close!) and our Netflix subscriptions even closer. 

Feature Image: Viacheslav Lopatin / Shutterstock.com

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Megan
Email: [email protected]