Corona virus is it right to wait for herd immunity against vaccine

 Corona virus: is it right to wait for ‘herd immunity’ against ‘vaccine’?

Meanwhile, a second sero survey has been conducted in the country, the results of which are eagerly awaited by everyone, so that it can be known that in fact there are so many or more cases of corona infection.

In this sequence, a statement of the health minister of the country is becoming very viral on social media. In this, Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan can be heard saying that India is still far away from herd immunity.

The health minister of the country has been doing Sunday dialogues with the public since last three Sundays. During this time people ask them questions and they answer selected questions.

In the same sequence, on 27 September, Somnath, a resident of Bengaluru, had asked the Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, “The report of the ICMR Siro Survey has caused confusion among the people. People have become disillusioned thinking that most people Has got corona infection or it will happen in the coming days. With this kind of mindset of the public how can the government deal with Kovid-19 disease? “

In response to this question, Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan said, “ICMR has conducted two sero surveys in the country so far. The first one was done in the month of May. At that time it was learned that 0.73 percent people in the country are vulnerable to corona infection. The second sero survey was recently conducted by ICMR. Samples were taken from 70 districts in 21 states of the country. The results of this sero survey shows that India is still far away from the condition of herd immunity. The results of the survey will be presented to the public soon.

Ever since the Health Minister’s reply, the public has been asking many questions about herd immunity on social media like what is herd immunity, how long will it come and why should it wait?

This story is an attempt to answer all your questions related to herd immunity in one place.

According to Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan, “Herd immunity status is achieved in any population when the disease spreads to 60 to 70 percent of the population. If the results of the CERO survey are telling that the herd immunity in India If the situation has not come, then it can be concluded from this that there is still such a large population in India which has survived till now due to the disease of Kovid-19. Has not been found. So people should not stop being cautious. “

What is herd immunity?

If a disease spreads to a large part of the population and the immunity of the human being helps to prevent the spread of infection of that disease, then those who fight the disease and get fully cured, should be ‘immune’ to that disease. Go, that is, they develop immunological properties. In them, competent anti-bodies are prepared to compete with the virus. When 60 to 70 percent of the total population is affected by some disease, it is believed that the status of ‘herd immunity’ has reached that population. This also indirectly provides protection to those 30-40 percent who are neither infected nor ‘immune’ for that disease.

This is possible because the virus is already infected whenever it is ready to cause infection in another’s body, they already have immunity. In such a situation, the chain of transmission breaks.

Professor KK Srinath Reddy, President of Public Health Care Foundation of India, explains this with an example. Herd immunity protects those without infection as if a VIP is running and there are many guards around, who are providing them protection.

According to Dr. Reddy, suppose the condition of herd immunity also comes in some state, even then the vaccine will have to wait. They also cite the reason behind this – Suppose if 60-70 percent of the people in Delhi have been infected and only 10 percent of the people are infected in Raipur, then those people of Delhi who are not infected, they are the cause of herd immunity in Delhi. Can avoid corona infection. But if they go to Raipur for some reason, then they too can get infected.

This is the reason why instead of waiting for herd immunity, we need to make all the security arrangements from the corona virus at all times.

One, India has not yet reached the stage of herd immunity. Second, even if the state of herd immunity comes in some states, that is not an effective way to avoid corona infection, because the movement of people from one place to another has started. The third problem is that the anti body being revealed in the sero survey, those hundred percent are not reliable because they are antigen tests.And most importantly, the anti-body corona found in the body is effective in fighting infection, it cannot be ensured. Sometimes antibodies made to fight other corona viruses are also found in the body.

This is why Dr. Reddy considers the word ‘herd protection’ more favorable than herd immunity.