As countries lie frozen in lockdown and billions of people lose their livelihoods, public figures are teasing a breakthrough that would mark the end of the crippling coronavirus pandemic: a vaccine.
But there is another, worst-case possibility: that no vaccine is ever developed. In this outcome, the public's hopes are repeatedly raised and then dashed, as various proposed solutions fall before the final hurdle. Instead of wiping out Covid-19, societies may instead learn to live with it. Cities would slowly open and some freedoms will be returned, but on a short leash, if experts' recommendations are followed.
The more time passes, the more imposing becomes the hotly debated prospect of herd immunity -- reached when the majority of a given population, around 70% to 90%, becomes immune to an infectious disease."That does to some extent limit spread," Offit says --"although population immunity caused by natural infection is not the best way to provide population immunity. The best way is with a vaccine.
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