Herd immunity unlikely in our lifetimes, should be heading UK's way: Expert
- The World Health Organisation (WHO) has long back ruled out herd immunity strategy as a response to the Covid-19 pandemic, calling it scientifically and ethically problematic.
People should avoid using the term ‘herd immunity’ in the context of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) as it is unlikely to materialise during our lifetimes, an expert has warned. Herd immunity is a stage where a certain percentage of the population gets infected with the virus and develops immunity against it, breaking the transmission chain. It interrupts the transmission chain and the virus spread is brought to an almost absolute halt.
Herd immunity was one of the most talked-about concepts, and many believed that the world will reach a stage where the virus will get eliminated. In an article for The Conversation, Shabir A. Madhi, dean faculty of health sciences and professor of vaccinology at the University of the Witwatersrand, has now said that the virus is unlikely to be eliminated.
Madhi listed several reasons that, he said, have forced a shift in our thinking about herd immunity, including the mutations making the virus more transmissible and their ability to evade vaccine-induced immunity. The inequitable distribution of vaccines across the world, with low- and lower-middle-income countries largely bearing the brunt of it, provides fertile ground for the virus to mutate, he added.
Also Read | Centre says coronavirus case trajectory in eight states concerning
Madhi opined that since no country will lock its border perpetually, the entire global population will need to reach a similar immunity threshold about the same time. He suggested that the world should rather be heading the way the UK has moved - high vaccination rates and getting back to a relatively normal lifestyle.
“The UK experience is where we should be heading. That is getting back to a relatively normal lifestyle, provided that we’ve got a adequate number of people vaccinated, and particularly people who are at higher risk of developing severe COVID-19,” he wrote.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has long back ruled out herd immunity strategy as a response to the Covid-19 pandemic, calling it scientifically and ethically problematic. WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had stressed that herd immunity has never in the history of public health been used as a strategy for responding to a virus outbreak.
(With PTI inputs)
Less time to read?
Try Quickreads
-
US-led Indo-Pacific strategy is a ploy to create divisions: China
The US-led Indo-Pacific strategy is a ploy to create divisions and incite confrontation in the region, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said on Sunday, adding that the plan is bound to fail. “Facts will prove that the so-called Indo-Pacific strategy is in essence a strategy to create division, to incite confrontation and to undermine peace,” Wang said.
-
‘Forced to wear it’: Afghan women TV anchors cover faces on air
Days after the Taliban's latest order, women presenters on Afghanistan's top news channels went on air on Sunday with their faces covered. On Saturday, many of the news anchors had reportedly defied the diktat to conceal their appearance on TV but their employers had come under pressure. The Taliban's latest order was among the slew of restrictions, mostly targeting the rights of women and girls, they imposed since seizing powers of Afghanistan last year.
-
Australia elections 2022: The four key faces in PM-elect Anthony Albanese's govt
Labor Party leader Anthony Albanese, who will be sworn in as Australia's 31st prime minister on Monday, after his party won Saturday's federal elections, will, soon after Albanese's swearing-in, leave for Tokyo, Japan, to attend a summit of the Quad group of nations. However, Albanese will not be the only Labor leader to take oath of allegiance on the day; four other party MPs will also be sworn-in.
-
Monkeypox cases something to 'be concerned about': US President Joe Biden
President Joe Biden said Sunday that recent cases of monkeypox that have been identified in Europe and the United States were something “to be concerned about.” In his first public comments on the disease, Biden added: “It is a concern in that if it were to spread it would be consequential." “They haven't told me the level of exposure yet but it is something that everybody should be concerned about,” Biden said.
-
As Ukraine war heads to fourth month, a timeline of events since conflict began
The war between Russia and Ukraine is now heading to the fourth month, with no signs of peace. The ferocious fighting which began on February 24 has killed thousands of civilians, flattened cities and forced more than six million Ukrainians to flee the country. Having already abandoned its move to capture capital Kyiv, Russia is now all out to capture the eastern and southern parts of the war-torn country.
