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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Herd immunity not achievable with present Covid-19 vaccines - expert

Herd immunity not achievable with present Covid-19 vaccines - expert

Published Mar 21, 2022 10:04 pm

An infectious disease expert said on Monday, March 21, that herd immunity against Covid-19 cannot be achieved with the vaccines that are currently available.

(UNSPLASH / MANILA BULLETIN)

During the Laging Handa public briefing, Infectious disease expert Dr. Edsel Salvana said that the "herd immunity" wherein people will no longer be infected is not achievable for now.

"Well, unang-una, iyong herd immunity (First of all, that herd immunity) that people think about na hindi na mahahawa (that they will not be infected), hindi po iyon (it's not) achievable with the current vaccines that we have," he said.

He stated that the vaccines, although effective in preventing severe diseases and deaths, the prevention from infection which was 90 percent before, when variants of concern weren't present yet, is now down to 30 to 40 percent efficacy for preventing infection.

"So hindi na po herd immunity ang tawag doon kasi wala na naman siyang masyadong napi-prevent na transmission, 30 to 40 percent na lang (So it's no longer called herd immunity because transmission is not prevented)," he said.

Salvana added that even if all people get vaccinated, the so-called sterilizing immunity wherein the virus will no longer spread will not be achieved as well since there will still be breakthrough infections.

What's important, he mentioned is that the effect of these outbreaks like with Omicron is really tempered by the level of vaccination to the point that the deaths are at the same level that is seen with flu and is no longer at the level where 10 percent among those unvaccinated may die especially in the vulnerable population.

The Department of Health (DOH) said that more than 65 million individuals or 72.41 percent of the target population has been vaccinated against Covid-19 while 11.5 million individuals received booster shots.

Related Tags

Dr. Edsel Salvana covid-19 Department of Health (DOH) COVID-19 vaccines covid-19 vaccine doh
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