According to the World Health Organization, herd immunity is not expected for this year, despite the arrival of the vaccine and vaccination efforts.
No collective immunity for 2021
While a year ago, China announced the first death from the coronavirus, there are now more than 1,900,000 deaths worldwide. To cope with this pandemic, vaccination campaigns are accelerating. However, Soumya Swaminathan, WHO chief scientist, said that herd immunity to Covid-19 “ will not be reached in 2021 “. In the meantime, immunity, ” we must not forget that there are measures that work »Adds the scientist. She recalled Monday evening during a press conference the importance of barrier gestures and urges the world population to continue to apply protective measures ” at least until the end of this year To control the pandemic.
Regarding vaccines, she also praised the “ incredible progress Scientists who have managed to concoct several anti-covid vaccines in less than a year. She recalls that vaccination ” takes time “And calls for” have a little patience “.
The false sense of vaccine safety
The arrival of vaccines provides a false sense of security according to several scientific experts, including Emanuele Capobianco, director of health for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). He warned the population against a ” potential false sense of security due to vaccine deployment Which could encourage the population to be less vigilant.
Jean-François Delfraissy, President of the Scientific Council, also underlined that “ the arrival of vaccines will have no impact on the first quarter of 2021 and very little on the second. This start of the year will therefore not be different from 2020 “. Indeed, the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, had indicated to the French that habits such as wearing a mask and social distancing would still last “ several months “.
