Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
There is a mutation Covid-19 varian Delta is said to complicate communal immunity or Herd Immunity. This was directly acknowledged by vaccine developers AstraZeneca and Oxford.
Addressing the British parliament, Sir Andrew Pollard, a professor of pediatric infection and immunity at the University of Oxford, said achieving communal immunity was not possible now, due to the Delta variant.
“We know very clearly with the coronavirus that the current variant, the Delta variant, will still infect people who have been vaccinated,” Pollard said.
Moreover, he explained it was impossible herd immunity will be achieved, if the virus mutates and produces a new corona virus variant. It is also said to be potentially more infectious in the vaccinated population.
People who are vaccinated can still get the Delta variant, although some cases are found to have milder symptoms. Some experts hope herd immunity can be achieved as well as measles which is also highly contagious.
Many countries have achieved communal immunity to measles, by vaccinating 95 percent of their population, such as the United States (US), where endemic transmission ended in 2000. The result is that if a person is vaccinated against measles, they cannot transmit the virus.
However, with the Corona virus still spreading, vaccines still fulfill their main role of protecting against severe symptoms.
Quoted The Guardian, the concept of communal or population immunity depends on how large a population has acquired immunity either through vaccination or has been previously infected.
According to the US CDC’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, vaccinated people who get the Delta variant are 25 times less likely to have severe symptoms or die. The majority of those infected have mild symptoms or none at all.
But growing evidence suggests that in the presence of the Delta variant, people who are vaccinated with the full dose can still transmit the virus.
“We don’t have anything that will stop that transmission to other people,” Pollard was quoted as saying Science Alert.
Data from the new React study conducted by Imperial College London, showed that fully vaccinated people aged 18 to 64 had a 49 percent lower risk of infection, compared to unvaccinated people.
The findings also show that people who are fully vaccinated are less likely to be positive, even after coming into contact with people who have been exposed to the coronavirus.
Israel is a good example of communal immunity. Positive cases of corona exposure are reported to have fallen, after vaccinating about 80 percent of adults. That prompted some to hope that it had surpassed herd immunity, but the Delta variant has since brought another spike in cases.
(can/DAL)
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