MOSCOW, July 14. /TASS/. Herd immunity to the coronavirus infection may be developed in Russia in the coming autumn if mass production of a vaccine is organized swiftly, Mikhail Shchelkanov, head of the international research and education center of Russia’s sanitary oversight authority, said on Tuesday.
"Naturally, Russia’s population does have certain herd immunity," he said in an interview with the Rossiya-24 television channel. "It is about 10-15-20% but if we speak about efficient herd immunity, we should have 70%, or better 80% Generally speaking, we can reach this level in the spring if we organize mass production of a vaccine."
The current epidemic surge in Western European "bodes no good for us," he said. "But I hope we will avoid a dramatic surge in morbidity during the summer."
He noted that coronavirus incidence rates are decreasing in Russia thanks to strict quarantine measures and exposure to sunlight in the summertime as an additional factor.
To date, 739,947 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 512,825 patients having recovered from the disease. Russia’s latest data indicates 11,614 fatalities nationwide. Earlier, the Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public updated on the coronavirus situation.