Covid-19 | Europe can reach herd immunity by August, says BioNTech chief

Ugur Sahin says data from people who have received the vaccine show that the immune response gets weaker over time, and a third shot will likely be required.

Europe can achieve herd immunity against the coronavirus within the next four months, the head of German pharmaceutical company BioNTech, which developed the first widely approved COVID-19 vaccine with U.S. partner Pfizer, said on Wednesday. While the exact threshold required to reach that critical level of immunisation remains a matter of debate, experts say a level above 70% would significantly disrupt transmission of the coronavirus within a population. “Europe will reach herd immunity in July, latest by August,” Ugur Sahin, BioNTech's chief executive, told reporters.