Europe may reach herd immunity by July. What about U.S.?

 Covid-19 vaccine rollouts continue in Europe and the U.S. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) reports administering approximately 55,224,844 vaccine doses in Europe thus far. Meanwhile, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said about 81,415,769 Americans had received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine.

The progress is impressive, despite the initial difficulties in vaccine distribution. So much so that officials are already talking about the date when Europe will reach herd immunity. According to the EU commissioner, that could happen by July. However, the U.S. has not established a timeline for the country to reach herd immunity yet.

On Monday, French vaccination chief Alain Fischer commented that Europe would likely return to normal in summer-autumn.

Thierry Breton, EU Commissioner of internal markets, also stated that a symbolic date for achieving immunity across the continent could be July 14. He also added that they are in the home stretch as they know that to beat the Coronavirus pandemic. There’s just one solution: vaccination. Thankfully, the vaccines are arriving.

Furthermore, EU spokesperson Eric Mamer declared that their goal is that 70 percent of adults in the European Union should have been vaccinated by the end of the summer.

Several European countries imposed new lockdowns

Despite the optimistic sentiment, some European countries suffered increased Covid-19 cases, forcing them to impose lockdowns once again.

Italy was one of the first European nations to declare new restrictions. The country has already endured harsh coronavirus conditions earlier in the pandemic. Poland and parts of France also announced the fresh lockdowns recently.  

Johns Hopkins University’s data showed that Italy had had an average of more than 22,000 virus cases over the past seven days. France has had more than 20,000 cases, while Germany reported an average of over 13,000 infections.

Still, Breton and Fischer are relatively confident that they can reach herd immunity by July. On the other hand, the U.S. has not offered any date yet.

Earlier this month, President Joe Biden announced an expansion of the United States’ vaccine program, expressing a hope to return closer to a normal lifestyle by July 4, Independence Day. However, he abstained from speaking about herd immunity.

Instead, Biden stated that if they do their part together, by July 4, there’s a good chance that families and friends will be able to get together in their backyard and celebrate Independence Day.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the leading infectious disease expert in the U.S. and COVID-19 adviser to Biden, noted that the United States would move closer to normalcy by mid to late summer or early fall after more Americans receive their coronavirus vaccine.