Re 1) and 2), is there evidence that there are less covid mutations amongst vaccinated populations? I'm no epidemiologist, but maybe covid would achieve vaccine resistance better in a vaccinated population right?
Regarding 3), Bill Gates wrote that ~70% immunity is all that's needed to eliminate covid. I'm curious for better info regarding that number too. It would imply that as many as 30% of people can remain unvaccinated and covid will still die out.
It’s not about more or less mutations but about how evolution works. Indeed, vaccinated people are creating a selection pressure, therefore vaccine resistant strain would most likely come from vaccinated people being exposed to a virus that has the right mutation to evade the vaccinated immune system.
The herd immunity percentage would depend on the characteristics of the strain. It can be higher or lower, the idea is that you need to have enough immune people so that the spread flames out. I read that for the delta variant the calculations show higher numbers because it’s more capable of spreading than the original one.
Ideally, we will reach that point before a strain undermines our vaccination efforts however that is not guaranteed. We can take measures to increase our chances.
Regarding 3), Bill Gates wrote that ~70% immunity is all that's needed to eliminate covid. I'm curious for better info regarding that number too. It would imply that as many as 30% of people can remain unvaccinated and covid will still die out.