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Date Published: 04/11/2021

ARCHIVED - Experts question whether Spain has reached herd immunity

ARCHIVED ARTICLE

Spain has now fully vaccinated almost 90% of the target population

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Experts question whether Spain has reached herd immunity

Respected scientific journal The Lancet has published a paper this week reflecting on the way in which Spain has managed the coronavirus pandemic and echoing the words on the lips of all experts: has this country reached herd immunity?

The publication points towards Spain’s high vaccination rate as a strong contributor, and with 88.7% of the target population now double jabbed, herd immunity may finally be in sight. However, the experts have cautioned that the coming weeks and months will be “crucial” in establishing whether the strategies adopted by European countries can definitively control the virus.

Earlier this year, the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, suggested that the country would have to hit a 90% vaccination target, but head of Infectious Diseases at the Virgen de la Macarena Hospital in Seville, Jesús Rodríguez Baño, has insisted that true herd immunity remains elusive.

“We still don’t know the exact proportion of the population that needs to be immune to reach herd immunity for SARS-CoV-2, as we need to better understand the duration and protection of transmission generated from both vaccination and previous COVID-19 infection,” he said.

However, the drastic fall in infections and the easing of hospital pressure even after restrictions have been lifted only have one plausible explanation, according to the expert: the country’s high vaccination rate.

The author of The Lancet piece highlighted the fact that Spain was one of the earliest-hit European countries and after the country was plunged into a full lockdown in March 2020, things have now largely returned to normal. Rodríguez Baño echoed this statement, adding that the forecast looks good for this winter in Spain to be "something much more normal than that experienced last year".

While the notion of herd immunity remains relatively intangible for the moment, Spain is certainly putting on a strong performance compared to many other neighbouring countries. However, Rodríguez Baño has warned that we must be prudent in our predictions about the future as governments decide on the application of a third booster dose and new Covid variants remain a threat.

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