With Natural Immunity, Herd Immunity May Be Here Quicker Than We Think

The Daily Dive

Some good news on the coronavirus front as we might be closer herd immunity than you think. More than 64% of adults have had at least one vaccine dose, and for those who haven’t had the vaccine, about half of them have natural immunity from prior infection. When you factor in natural immunity, the number of individuals protected is more than we think. Dr. Marty Makary, professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and author of “The Price We Pay: What Broke American Healthcare and How to Fix It,” joins us for why herd immunity is not so far off.

Next, tech companies are looking at ways of getting you over your Zoom fatigue and bringing holograms to the office for your next meeting. Projects at WeWork and Google are working on a new style of communication with holograms and avatars to make things feel more personal and allow you to read body language better. Ann-Marie Alcántara, reporter at the WSJ, joins us for how this tech is closer to becoming an everyday reality.

Finally, as we see the demand for Covid-19 vaccines drop, Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses are being left unused and they could be expiring as soon as the end of this month. The doses only last about 3 months in the refrigerator and hundreds of thousands or more could go to waste. States want to redistribute or send these doses abroad, but there are very strict rules on how the vaccines can be reallocated. Laura Strickler, investigative reporter at NBC News, joins us for these expiring vaccines.

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