HSE rejects top doctor’s herd immunity call
THE HSE distanced itself yesterday from comments by one of its senior medics, who said Covid-19 was ‘much less severe’ than the annual flu and that current ‘draconian’ restrictions were no longer justified.
Dr Martin Feeley is clinical director of the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group which includes Tallaght University Hospital, St James’s and Naas General Hospital, which all dealt with a high number of Covid cases. He told The Irish Times people at low risk from the virus should be exposed to it so they can develop ‘herd immunity’ and reduce the risk to vulnerable groups.
A herd immunity approach would see a large proportion of the population exposed to the disease and becoming immune. In theory, the large number of people with antibodies would then naturally stem the spread of the virus among those most at risk.
Experts argue that not enough is known about the long-term effects of the disease to follow this path, with question marks over how long antibodies remain in those who have had Covid-19.
‘This should have been allowed to happen during the summer months before the annual flu season, to reduce the workload on the health service during winter months,’ Dr Feeley said.
He also argued that the cost to quality of life of the restrictions should be taken into account in formulating restrictions.
Dr Feeley, 70, also criticised the media and public ‘obsession’ with daily case numbers, when so few people are being admitted to hospital or ICU. He said the coverage bordered on ‘hysteria’.
The HSE took the step of issuing a press release yesterday rejecting Dr Feeley’s comments, with its chief clinical officer Dr Colm Henry saying his views were not the position of the HSE.
‘For the avoidance of any doubt, the position as stated by Dr
Feeley in the Irish Times today is not the position of the HSE on this important subject. The WHO declared a Covid-19 pandemic on March 11. There have been over 28 million cases and 900,000 deaths worldwide, many among older and vulnerable populations.
‘This is a novel coronavirus for which there is no cure or vaccination currently and against which our population have no immunity. Herd immunity for an infectious disease occurs when a sufficient proportion of the population develops a sustained immunity either through vaccination or previous infection. Relying on infection, as we now know, has the power to overwhelm healthcare systems and lead to large-scale illness and death, particularly in vulnerable populations.’
A consultant told the Irish Mail on Sunday there is a strong belief in sections of the medical community that something like a ‘herd immunity’ will have to be considered as a vaccine will not be coming in the short term.
‘We are seeing that the virus has weakened, maybe even the mask wearing is passing on a weakened strain of it,’ said the source who has been involved in Covid research since the disease emerged. ‘We have not had, nor will we have, the scenes like those in Italy where they were deciding on who should be treated or not.’