Immunisation is the only solution to COVID-19: Govt.

July 31, 2020 Hot from the Oven Valli Sarvani No comments

As several people think, herd immunity is not a strategic option to COVID-19 in India, says the government. The Health Ministry yesterday said that immunisation is the only solution to COVID-19 to fight against the coronavirus pandemic, but not the herd immunity.

In a bigger country like India in terms of population, herd immunity cannot be a strategic option now. It may be possible in future, but now the only solution for the coronavirus is immunisation.

When a large number of people, usually 70 per cent to 90 per cent of the population in a country is infected with a contagious disease, they will become immune to it, which results in herd community.

However, India has a huge population. Hence, considering the size of the population, herb immunity may not be possible now as per the government.

If lakhs of people are infected with COVID-19, then it may lead to hospitalization of too many people and numerous deaths. Hence, following safety measures like wearing masks, washing hands etc. is crucial till the vaccine comes.

The scientists in India said that herd immunity against COVID-19 in India may be achieved for a short time, but it may not be long-lasting. They quoted sero-surveillance data from New Delhi and Mumbai for this.

As of now, there is no clear data about COVID-19 that what per cent of the infected population will achieve herd immunity. However, several epidemiologists believe that 60 per cent of the infected population can be sufficient to acquire herd immunity.

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry said that the fatality rate in India is the lowest in the world, which is 2.21 per cent. The recovery rate has also been improved a lot from the past two months. The recovery rate of 16 states of the country is more than the national average. Delhi has the highest recovery rate of 88 per cent, followed by Ladakh with 80 per cent.

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