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COVID Herd Immunity Point Still Unclear, Biden Says


President Joe Biden speaks at Tidewater Community College, May 3, 2021, in Portsmouth, Virginia.
President Joe Biden speaks at Tidewater Community College, May 3, 2021, in Portsmouth, Virginia.

U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday will update the country on how it is faring in the battle against COVID-19 and the effort to get more Americans vaccinated against the coronavirus.

The president, following remarks on Monday afternoon at a community college in Virginia, was asked by a reporter when the country will reach herd immunity — meaning, when will a sufficient percentage of the population be immune to the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 because of previous exposure or inoculation.

"There’s a debate about what constitutes herd immunity," he said. "Is it 70 percent, 68 percent, 81 percent?”

No matter the precise percentage, Biden said he thinks "by the end of the summer, we’ll be in a very different position." And what is critical now, according to the president, is for everyone to get vaccinated.

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