[ad_1]
On Monday, researchers warned that Britain is “very, very far” from anything that comes close to herd immunity.
Helen Ward, professor of public health at Imperial and principal investigator, said: “I think what we’re showing is that there is a big challenge to that, which is that immunity is waning quite quickly. After three months,” they have already shown a 26 percent decrease in antibodies.
“When you think that 95 out of 100 people are unlikely to be immune and therefore likely to be susceptible, then we are very, very far from anything that looks like population-level protection against transmission. “.
Professor Wendy Barclay, head of Imperial’s Infectious Diseases Department, said the findings suggest that Covid is likely to function in the same way as the common cold, meaning it can be regularly reinfected.
She said: “The seasonal coronaviruses that circulate each winter and cause common colds can re-infect people after six to 12 months, and we suspect that the way the body reacts to infection with this new coronavirus is quite similar to that”.
“We don’t yet know what level of antibodies is needed in a person’s blood to protect them from SARS-CoV-2 infection or reinfection, but of course that level is crucial to begin to understand. Most of the Vaccination strategies aim to produce that level, and that level will influence whether a population becomes immune or has some level of immunity. “
Professor Barclay warned that Britain was “a long way off” from herd immunity.
