National Research Shows that Brazil Is Far from Herd Immunity

Number of infections is six times higher than the official, study indicates

São Paulo

The number of people infected with the coronavirus grew 53% in two weeks, between the first and the second phases of Epicovid-19, the national research on the disease. The second round of the study was carried out in the field between June 4th and 7th.

This is the variation in the number of people who had antibodies to the disease, tested in Epicovid-19, in 83 cities for which it is possible to compare data from the two stages. In these municipalities, the infection rate went from 1.7% of the population to 2.6%. In the official count of cases, the evolution was 33.5%.

Number of infections is six times higher than the official, study indicates (foto: Rubens Cavallari/Folhapress, NAS RUAS) - Folhapress

The relatively low proportion of infected people indicates that collective (“herd”) immunity is still a long way off. The coronavirus infection would practically end when about 65% of a population was infected (these projections vary and are the subject of controversy).

Considering the rate of infected people in the research and the recent evolution of the disease, it would take two to three months for a state like São Paulo to come close to collective immunity.

Translated by Kiratiana Freelon

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