How many people need to get a COVID-19 vaccine in order to stop the coronavirus?

  It has been clear for a while that, at least in the U.S., the only way out of the coronavirus pandemic will be through vaccination. The rapid deployment of coronavirus vaccines is underway, but how many people need to be vaccinated in order to control this pandemic?

  I am a computational biologist who uses data and computer models to answer biological questions at the University of Connecticut. I have been tracking my state’s COVID-19 epidemic with a computer model to help forecast the number of hospitalizations at the University of Connecticut’s John Dempsey Hospital.

7 tips for staying safe as COVID-19 cases rise and colder weather heightens the risk

  As temperatures fall, people are spending more time indoors. That heightens the risk of the coronavirus spreading, but there are some simple steps you can take to help protect yourself and everyone around you.

  It’s easy to get tired of wearing masks and practicing social distancing. There has even been some talk from the White House about herd immunity – the idea that if enough people get infected, the virus won’t be able to spread.

  But the U.S. isn’t anywhere close to herd immunity for SARS-CoV-2, estimated to be reached when about 60% to 70% of the population has been infected – likely more than 200 million people. Without a vaccine, hospitals would be overwhelmed by the illnesses and hundreds of thousands more people would die. We also don’t know how long immunity lasts.

Could employers and states mandate COVID-19 vaccinations? Here’s what the courts have ruled

  A safe and effective vaccine could end the coronavirus pandemic, but for it to succeed, enough people will have to get inoculated.

  Recent polls suggest that the U.S. is far from ready. Most surveys have found that only about two-thirds of adults say they would probably get the vaccine. While that might protect most people who get vaccinated, research suggests it may be insufficient to reach herd immunity and stop the virus’s spread.

A majority of vaccine skeptics plan to refuse a COVID-19 vaccine, a study suggests, and that could be a big problem

  The availability of a vaccine for the novel coronavirus will likely play a key role in determining when Americans can return to life as usual. Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, on April 30 announced that a vaccine could even be available by January 2021.

  Whether a vaccine can end this pandemic successfully, however, depends on more than its effectiveness at providing immunity against the virus or how quickly it can be produced in mass quantities. Americans also must choose to receive the vaccine.

Charles C. Haynes: Vaccines, science and the limits of freedom

  Alarm over the current measles outbreak that began mid-December in Disneyland, California – more than 100 cases in 14 states reported in January – has renewed debate about laws in all 50 states and the District of Columbia mandating that students be vaccinated for certain diseases before entering school.

  At issue are the religious and personal belief exemptions granted to parents who choose not to vaccinate their children.

The Effect of childhood vaccine exemptions on disease outbreaks

  Vaccination is one of the most cost-effective and successful public health interventions. Each year, vaccines save an estimated 6 million to 9 million lives worldwide, including the lives of 3 million children. In the United States, vaccinations have decreased most vaccine-preventable childhood diseases by more than 95 percent. Vaccines have minimized or eliminated outbreaks of certain diseases that were once lethal to large numbers of people, including measles and polio in the United States and smallpox worldwide. But because the bacteria and viruses that cause diseases still exist, the public health gains achieved through vaccines can only be maintained by ensuring that vaccination rates remain high enough to prevent outbreaks.