Without Herd Immunity, the Threat of COVID-19 Will Need To Be Managed, Say Doctors

Early on in the pandemic, doctors reported herd immunity happens at 70%. But now, with the highly contagious variants, the ideal number is 80%.

"I think we need to shift from the virus being completely eradicated to becoming a manageable thing," said Methodist infectious disease physician Jessica Jones, MD.

Dr. Jones said the goal has changed with vaccine hesitancy halting herd immunity.

"If we can still get enough people vaccinated, regardless of the variants and things like that, we can make this a mild disease," she said.

KETV: Without Herd Immunity, the Threat of COVID-19 Will Need to Managed, Say Doctors