Australia won’t see herd immunity any time soon, researchers warn
The Burnet Institute says Australia is unlikely to achieve herd immunity because of new variants and vaccine hesitancy
Governments will need to maintain public health measures to prevent thousands of deaths from COVID-19 because Australia is unlikely to achieve herd immunity, researchers warn.
The Burnet Institute in Melbourne ran modelling on three “near-worse-case” scenarios to predict possible futures.
“We found that, if the virus enters the community when 60% vaccine coverage has been reached and is left unchecked, we could see 4885 deaths in Victoria within a year if no public health responses are introduced,” said Dr Nick Scott (PhD), an economist and head of modelling at the institute.
“If we get peak vaccination coverage up to 95%, the number of deaths reduces to 1346.”
