The director of the Oxford Vaccine Group has said that herd immunity is “not a possibility” with the current Delta variant.
Professor Sir Andrew Pollard referred to the idea as “mythical” and warned that a vaccine programme should not be built around the idea of achieving it.
Speaking to the All-Party Group on Coronavirus, he said that it was clear the Delta variant will still infect people who have been vaccinated.
He explained that this meant “anyone who’s still unvaccinated, at some point, will meet the virus.
“I think we are in a situation here with this current variant where herd immunity is not a possibility because it still infects vaccinated individuals.”
Prof Pollard also predicted “a variant which is perhaps even better at transmitting in vaccinated populations” and said this is even more of a reason “not to be making a vaccine programme around herd immunity.”
His comments come as the European Union has said it will not change its safe travel list this week, an EU official told Reuters on Monday, allowing non-essential travel from the United States to continue for the time being.
The list currently comprises two dozen countries, including the United States, Japan and Australia, which are considered safe from a health perspective under the ongoing pandemic.
Last week, an EU official said the inclusion of the United States in the list might be reconsidered as the country sees a huge upswing in infections.
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