<p>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.</p>
<p>While the exact threshold required to reach that critical level of immunization remains a matter of debate, experts say a level above 70% <a href="https://apnews.com/article/when-do-we-reach-herd-immunity-explained-8da12b3d4f6e33c0c6562f29f81ca52a">would significantly disrupt transmission</a> of the coronavirus within a population.</p>
<p>“Europe will reach herd immunity in July, latest by August,” Ugur Sahin, BioNTech’s chief executive, told reporters.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>Sahin said data from people who have received the vaccine show that the immune response gets weaker over time, and a third shot will likely be required.</p>
<p>Studies show the efficacy of the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine declines from 95% declines to about 91% after six months, he said.</p>
<p>“Accordingly, we need a third shot to get the vaccine protection back up to almost 100% again” Sahin said. He suggested this should be administered 9-12 months after the first shot.</p>
<p>“And then I expect it will probably be necessary to get another booster every year or perhaps every 18 months again,” he said.</p>
