The failure to establish herd immunity against SARS-CoV-2

Haohua Cui

doi:10.1117/12.2669370

24 March 2023 The failure to establish herd immunity against SARS-CoV-2

Haohua Cui

Proceedings Volume 12611, Second International Conference on Biological Engineering and Medical Science (ICBioMed 2022); 126112W (2023) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2669370
Event: International Conference on Biological Engineering and Medical Science (ICBioMed2022), 2022, Oxford, United Kingdom

Abstract

The current COVID-19 pandemic is undoubtedly one of the most severe global healthcare crises in the 21st century. The traditional view on terminating a pandemic is establishing herd immunity via natural infections or vaccinations. However, this strategy might not be appropriate against SARS-CoV-2 due to many uncontrollable factors. This review has summarised several newest primary research and clinical studies to evaluate the reasons behind the failure of establishing this indirect protection with some alternative insights regarding future disease control. The review has found that variables such as the duration of humoral immunity against SARS-CoV-2, vaccines' ability to cut off the transmission, and the continuous emergence of immune evasive variants are vital contributors to the failed herd immunity establishment. Therefore, the overdependence on vaccination during the pandemic will not only waste valuable time and resources on disease containment but also creates this false illusion which dampens the public’s alertness to the disease and amplifies the pandemic's impacts on world healthcare systems and economics. As a result, the traditional disease control policies, such as lockdown and quarantines, are as vital as vaccination for future infectious disease containment and pandemic management. It is the combination of both strategies that contribute to the establishment of herd immunity and pandemic termination.

Citation Download Citation

Haohua Cui "The failure to establish herd immunity against SARS-CoV-2", Proc. SPIE 12611, Second International Conference on Biological Engineering and Medical Science (ICBioMed 2022), 126112W (24 March 2023); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2669370

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KEYWORDS

COVID 19

Diseases and disorders

Pathogens

Antibodies

Medicine

Compliance

Astatine

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