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As the world waits for scientists to develop a safe and effective vaccine against the novel coronavirus, some have asked if “herd immunity” could play a part in reducing the virus’ spread.
Generally, scientists say that herd immunity does have a role to play in curbing the virus prior to the development of a vaccine, but probably only to a limited degree. Trying to actively build up herd immunity before a vaccine would contribute to more cases of COVID-19, and likely more deaths.
Typically, an infection prompts the body’s immune system to produce antibodies, which are proteins that circulate in the blood and help fight off an infection.
People who have battled COVID-19 and have recovered, or people who had been exposed but whose infection was so mild that they didn’t notice they were sick, should both have antibodies specific to the coronavirus. Once a vaccine is developed, people who have been vaccinated should also have antibodies to fight off an infection.
Someone with antibodies to the coronavirus should have a degree of immunity, although researchers are still trying to determine exactly how strong that protection will be and how long it will last.
Having antibodies means that an individual can go out into the wider community without fear of getting sick themselves, at least for a period of time. It also means that these individuals cannot serve as a vector to spread the virus from an infected person to someone who’s not infected.
All told, the more people who have antibodies to an infection, the less rapidly the infection can spread through the community. This is especially important with the coronavirus because an infected person is able to spread the virus for several days before even knowing they’ve been infected.
“If 80% of a population is immune to a virus, four out of every five people who encounter someone with the disease won’t get sick and won’t spread the disease any further,” wrote Gypsyamber D’Souza and David Dowdy of Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health. “In this way, the spread of infectious diseases is kept under control.”
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Alex Mahadevan is a senior multimedia reporter at MediaWise. He can be reached at amahadevan@poynter.org or on Twitter at @AlexMahadevan. Follow MediaWise on TikTok.
