Why is striving to acquire herd immunity at all costs a bad idea to fight the coronavirus pandemic? 6 reasons

The acquisition of herd immunity in some gives hope that the coronavirus pandemic will finally end: SARS-CoV-2 will stop spreading, people will return to normal life, socializing, greetings without distancing and all the rest of the behaviors we were used to before the virus took over the world.

1. In the USA, a document has been created, the authors of which want to lift restrictions and encourage young people to become infected. All this to speed up the process of acquiring herd immunity
2. Experts explain why this approach to building herd immunity is dangerous
3. One of these reasons is that COVID-19 has many side effects, some of which are yet to be discovered by medicine
4. Resistance to the coronavirus through its outbreak is not permanent. Re-infection is possible and such cases do happen
5. For more up-to-date information on COVID-19, please visit the TvoiLokony home page

Many experts believe that if such herd immunity became a fact, the majority of the population would be immune to infection and COVID-19 would stop spreading throughout society.

According to them, this would be possible under two conditions: either many people would have to contract the coronavirus, or they should be given an effective, safe vaccine.

However, many epidemiologists believe that the pursuit of herd immunity without a vaccine is dangerous as it carries a huge risk of death for many people. And that it is simply impossible to achieve herd immunity by natural means, without a vaccine.

Lift restrictions and encourage young people to become infected?

In the US, the topic has been under discussion for months. In this case, the document “The Great Barrington Declaration” was even produced, the authors of which postulate the lifting of restrictions and encourage young people to become infected in order to accelerate the process of acquiring herd immunity.

The idea even got the support of the White House. One of the authors of this declaration, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya of Stanford University Medical School, an epidemiologist during a debate organized by the scientific journal JAMA, said that in people under 50-60 years of age, the mental and physical costs of blockage are greater than the costs of contracting COVID-19 .

The outstanding epidemiologist Marc Lipsitch from Harvard joined the discussion, along with other experts who signed up against the concept of a think tank. Explains why the approach to building herd immunity is dangerous. There are six reasons.

Infecting only young people – not feasible

First, infecting young people with the coronavirus is not a good idea, and all serious health experts agree.

Moreover, infecting only young people without endangering other social groups is practically impossible.

Even Sweden withdrew from its stance on building herd resilience and introduced a series of restrictions after nursing home residents began dying from COVID-19 in their country.

See also: Sweden: infection records, more and more deaths. What about herd immunity? The chief epidemiologist took the floor

It is not known who and why the coronavirus is killing

The second reason why it is dangerous to intentionally expose humans to infection is because COVID-19 is associated with many side effects. Some of them are still discovered by medicine.

The likely consequences of contracting the coronavirus will continue to be felt long after the pandemic is over. And it is not really known who to protect against infection and who is “safe”.

Because COVID-19 doesn’t just kill. It also has a devastating and long-term effect on health, as evidenced by the so-called «Longcovid» – «long covid».

«The healers suffer from side effects for months. This is called brain fog, tinnitus, loss of smell, hair loss, swelling of the toes, peeling skin, rashes »- enumerates prof. Lipsitch.

In addition, it is known that 45,4 percent of the US adult population is at risk of complications from COVID-19 due to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, respiratory disease, hypertension, and cancer. Such data are referred to by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

– ‘Targeted protection’, advocated by proponents of The Great Barrington Declaration, speaks of protecting the elderly as being most at risk from a pandemic. “But we don’t really know who and why the coronavirus is killing,” Lipsitch analyzes.

Zobacz: When will the COVID-19 pandemic end? Dr. Fauci took the floor. The answer is specific

“Focused protection” makes no sense

Scientists are still studying SARS-CoV-2, and they don’t quite know how it works yet. Therefore, “focused protection” does not make sense. Also because – as numerous cases show – the virus is deadly to people of all ages, regardless of race or gender. Children and young people are also dying.

The thread that connects research is the number of ACE-2 receptors a person has. Scientists agree that they are used by viruses to enter the host cell, where they multiply.

The blockades saved the lives of many people

Fourth, lockdown or quarantine, despite being an extreme tool in the fight against the coronavirus, has saved tens of thousands of lives around the world.

And while it is true that it had many negative consequences, the restrictions brought the pandemic to a halt in some places, and the research community gained time to work on vaccines and develop better practices for treating patients.

Blockades, despite the obvious negative effects, such as job loss, breaks in education, loneliness, increased domestic violence, alcohol and drug abuse and many others – undoubtedly saved tens of thousands of people from death.

Getting rid of the coronavirus is possible

Fifth, getting rid of the coronavirus is possible. Supporters of the natural path to herd immunity forget that it is not that we either have a normal life or a blockage. Between these extremes there is also the “gray area”, that is, the fight against the virus. They also ignored the fact that measures such as maintaining social distancing, avoiding crowds, and wearing masks helped slow down the transmission of the virus.

Examples include Australia and New Zealand, which have achieved the “impossible goal” of zero or nearly zero COVID-19 carryover. Taiwan has dealt best with the epidemic, where no local coronavirus infection has been detected since April 12.

Re-infection is possible

Natural herd immunity is unlikely to work in the event of the COVID-19 pandemic, no matter how the scientific world tries to do it.

First of all, because it is short-lived, not only in relation to SARS-CoV-2, it also applies to cold viruses. Most importantly, immunity to the coronavirus through an infection that has passed through it is not final or permanent: re-infection is possible and it does happen.

There are estimates that building a natural herd resilience could only lead to 640 in the US. additional deaths from COVID-19 by February 2023.

The editorial board recommends:

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2. Pfizer and Moderna have COVID-19 vaccines. What do we know about them?
3. US Chief Physician: This is the only sure symptom of COVID-19. If you have one, you need to do a test

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