Although vaccines against COVID-19 are being rolled out in several countries, the World Health Organization has cautioned that herd immunity would not be achieved this year.

WHOs chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan has warned that it will take time to produce and administer enough doses to curb the spread of coronavirus. According to Swaminathan, "We are not going to achieve any levels of population immunity or herd immunity in 2021." She emphasized the need to continue measures like physical distancing, hand washing and mask wearing. She lauded the progress made by scientists who managed to develop several safe and effective vaccines against a new virus in less than a year, but also stressed that the rollout takes time… (NDTV - Agence France-Presse, January 12, 2021)