Coronavirus: what is herd immunity and why is it so important?
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☰ Coronavirus: what is herd immunity and why is it so important?
Without a vaccination a large enough number of people will have to contract Covid-19 and recover from it By March 13, 2020 11:38 pm Updated July 13, 2020 10:59 am Herd immunity occurs when a high percentage of the population is vaccinated making it difficult for infectious diseases to spread, because there are not many people who can be infected.
For example, , and it will quickly disappear again.
Herd immunity gives protection to vulnerable people such as newborn babies, elderly people and those who are too sick to be vaccinated.
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However, our problem now is that there is no vaccination to protect against coronavirus – and there won’t be one for at least another 12-18 months.
Therefore for the UK population to gain herd immunity, – will need to contract the virus and then recover.
If that situation occurs then people will be less likely to get covid-19 in the future and the public can build up a resistance to it.
Elderly people Elderly people are one of the key groups that rely on herd immunity to protect them, as they are more susceptible to disease.
If they are able to isolate as much as possible during the coronavirus peak, once herd immunity is established isolation measures can be scaled back.
Given Sir Patrick has said he believes will become an “annual virus”, building up herd immunity will be vital.
The only problem is, with no vaccination available, no one knows how long it will take for 60 per cent of the population to be infected, as no country has reached that figure yet.
And as cases in China have slowed markedly to a handful, no country may ever get there given the extreme measures being put in place by those worst affected.
And as points out, herd immunity does not protect against all vaccine-preventable diseases.
The best example of this is tetanus, which is caught from bacteria in the environment, not from other people who have the disease.