The Hope of Herd Immunity is a Mirage

 

Manaus, Brazil is the only place on Earth that appears to have reached herd immunity. Since Covid transmission there continues, they can't relax protective measures. The only long-term hope is for an effective vaccine:

“We believe that, theoretically, herd immunity for COVID-19 would be around 60 per cent of a population resistant to the virus, and this is why this research points to herd immunity in Manaus,” says Granato, a professor of infectious diseases at the Federal University of São Paulo, who did not participate in Sabino’s study. 

These findings mean that the virus will find less new victims in Manaus. But, Granato warns, “there’s still more than 30 percent of the population to infect there.” 

Sabino agrees: “Transmission might have slowed down in Amazonas state, but it’s still happening.”