Russia may achieve herd immunity against COVID-19 in H1 2021: health minister

Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said that herd immunity against COVID-19 in Russia can be reached in the first half of 2021, TASS news agency reported on Wednesday.

Murashko said that the coronavirus cases in the country are dropping in part due to mass vaccination, adding that it would be necessary for 60 percent of the population to be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity.

"We plan for this proportion to be reached in this half of the year," Murashko said.

Russia reported 21,152 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking the country's total to 3,633,952, the country's COVID-19 response center said in a statement on Wednesday.

The death toll increased by 597 to 67,220, the center said, adding that 3,027,316 patients have so far recovered, including 25,290 recoveries over the past day.