> Importantly, sustained herd immunity is not the only value of a vaccine or the only way it could help us return to a more normal life. If high coverage can be

> Importantly, sustained herd immunity is not the only value of a vaccine or the only way it could help us return to a more normal life. If high coverage can be achieved in those most at risk of severe outcomes, we could achieve a state where virus continues to circulate (at a level reduced by partial herd immunity) but the toll on the health system and the mortality toll is dramatically reduced because fewer highly vulnerable people are infected, and even fewer of those experience symptoms, thanks to direct protection by the vaccine. In my personal opinion, this is the most likely path to a more normal life in many countries. And that is the conclusion of the harvard.edu article for one. That article is actually pretty good and discussed partial efficacy against disease, partial efficacy against transmission, efficacy against severe disease, and sums it up with that prediction about endemicity. There's nothing in there suggesting the vaccines were supposed to eliminate the virus, even though it is discussing the topic of herd immunity. The misconception seems to be that herd immunity equals covid-zero which it does not.