BioNTech chief: Europe will reach herd immunity by August

The head of German pharmaceutical company BioNTech says Europe can achieve herd immunity against the coronavirus within the next four months

BERLIN -- 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 Wednesday. While the exact threshold required to reach that critical level of immunization 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. His company's vaccine makes up a large share of the doses administered in Europe and North America, where it is more commonly known as the Pfizer shot.