Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, a big portion of the world’s population and even some political leaders believe that the only way to control and end the health crisis is by achieving herd immunity even though many health agencies have emphasized the difficulties of doing so in the past seven months.
Now, a report present at a recent meeting of the World Health Organization (WHO) has shown that approximately one in ten people in the world have the coronavirus infection, which means only ten percent of the world’s population has been infected since the start of the year.
According to the head of emergencies, Dr. Michael Ryan, the estimated number of cases and infected people can be vary depending on factors such as area location, age group, and others.
However, the findings of the report are sufficient to establish that the majority of the people in the world are at risk even if the figures are higher than the current total number of estimated cases in the world.
The health agency has already repeatedly stated that most of the statistics on the prevalence of coronavirus around the globe may not include a good number of cases and the real figures may be significantly higher than estimated ones.
RELATED: Will the US have a Second Lockdown for Coronavirus?
Therefore, it does not come as a shock to the agency or health experts worldwide. What is more concerning is that the pandemic continues to accelerate and is likely to impact more and more people around the world and be the cause of an increasing number of deaths.
According to the WHO, there are various proven methods that can help reduce transmission and mortality rates. With the correct policies and administration, the numbers can be brought down eventually.
Another important thing to note is that while the figures may seem high, they are not enough to show that the world’s population is anywhere near gaining herd immunity against the virus.
In order to build immunity against a certain pathogen, more than half of the global population needs to be infected and recovered. The new report shows only ten percent of the people around the world have been infected in the past few months.
This means that there is still a long way to go to achieve global immunity against the novel coronavirus. It may even take several more months or even years to do so and even if herd immunity is developed, it does not guarantee that the pathogen will be eradicated.
In addition, herd immunity may come at a cost of many lives. Therefore, experts do not suggest completely relying on this method to end the coronavirus pandemic.
A few weeks ago, the death toll for the coronavirus pandemic crossed one million. If the world relies entirely on having natural immunity to the virus, the figures are going to grow even further. This situation can be prevented.
According to Dr. Ryans, preventive measures for the coronavirus have prevented many cases and deaths and if people continue to follow them, they can make a big difference and help in controlling the health crisis.
