Herd immunity no option, will have huge human cost

As overall cases of novel coronavirus in India crossed 16 lakh on Thursday and close to 5.5 lakh people still remain under treatment for the infection, the Union health ministry urged people to take all precautions till a vaccine is developed as the country is far from achieving herd immunity.

“Given the size of India’s population, herd immunity cannot be a strategic choice or option but can only be an outcome, and that too at a very high cost as it means lakhs of people would have to be infected, get hospitalised and many would die in the process," said Rajesh Bhushan, officer on special duty in Union health ministry.

Herd immunity is a kind of indirect protection from an infectious disease like Covid-19 which happens only when a large part of the population becomes immune to it either through vaccination or through infection.

“Are we approaching herd immunity? The health ministry believes it is still far away and in the future. For now, we have to follow COVID-appropriate behaviour like wearing masks, avoiding gatherings, following hand hygiene and maintaining distance from others. Till a vaccine comes up, following Covid-appropriate behaviour is the social vaccine against the disease,” the OSD said.

According to scientists, herd immunity against Covid-19 in India is likely only in pockets given the many socio-economic groups in the country and may be short-lived rather than long-lasting.

As per data on Thursday morning, India has had 15,83,792 positive cases so far, out of which 52,123 were reported in one day, the highest so far. There have been 34,968 deaths so far out of which 775 took place in the last 24 hours.