In an article, published today in Science, Dr Deepti Gurdasani from Queen Mary University of London and Devi Sridhar from the University of Edinburgh explain why herd immunity by infection is not a strategy that should be considered for COVID-19.
Illustration of a group social distancing
The authors highlight data from a recent study looking at the largely uncontrolled severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) epidemic in Manaus, the capital Amazonas state in Brazil.
“The findings show the impact on mortality rates of a largely unmitigated outbreak where even with an estimated 76% of the population being infected, herd immunity was not achieved,” they write.
“Manaus provides a cautionary example of unmitigated spread across a population, showing that herd immunity is likely not achieved even at high levels of infection and that it comes with unacceptably high costs.”
They conclude: “Governments need to focus on more precise nonpharmaceutical interventions, robust test/trace/isolate systems, border control measures, mass testing, better treatments, and development and delivery of vaccines. This is the most sustainable path for countries out of this pandemic.”
More information
Article: ‘Herd Immunity by Infection is not an option’ by Devi Sridhar and Deepti Gurdasani. Science. 15 Jan 2021: Vol. 371, Issue 6526, pp. 230-231 DOI: 10.1126/science.abf7921