What I stand for

An international group of scientists has called on governments to apply a “herd immunity” strategy to young people to tackle the emerging coronavirus while protecting the most vulnerable.
According to the British newspaper The Guardian, the proposed document, signed by more than 30,000 scientists, calls on governments to reverse their strategies to combat Corona and allow some of the least vulnerable groups, such as young people, to return to normal life in the hope of achieving “herd
immunity.”
The policy of “herd immunity” is based on the formation of “collective immunity” among the population, by allowing some outbreakof the virus in public places, so that people will become immune to
it.
The authors of the document argue that closures and restrictions imposed on states as a result of corona outbreaks have “devastating effects” on public health by disrupting routine care and damaging mental
health. “While older persons and others at risk should be protected, people at risk should be allowed to resume their lives as usual, until treatments and vaccines for the virus are found.”
The document acknowledged that it was difficult to protect all older persons in society, stressing the need for every elderly person to protect himself.
“If you’re 75 years old, you can choose to go out as little as possible. Efforts to reduce infections have significantly slowed the spread of the disease.”
The document came under heavy attack from a number of health experts who called it “catastrophic”, saying that young people are not immune to the serious effects of Corona that could cause their
deaths.
Sweden was one of the first countries to implement the “herd immunity” strategy, and the idea recently emerged in the United States, rekindling the controversy.

A study conducted by the Swedish Public Health Agency last May revealed the failure of “herd immunity” against Corona, where the study showed that the number of people who developed immunity to the virus in Sweden “much lower than expected”, but the study confirmed that the number of deaths caused by “Cofed-19” in the country is equal to the number of deaths in the four neighbouring Scandinavian countries that imposed isolation measures.

Maria van Kerkov, an expert at the World Health Organization, said at a press briefing in Geneva last month that “herd immunity” is usually discussed in the context of vaccinations — not as a response to an
epidemic. “Usually when we talk about herd immunity, we talk about the number of people who need vaccination to get immunity against the virus, and the pathogens, so that transmission cannot occur.” “If we think about herd immunity in the natural sense of allowing the virus to spread, it’s very dangerous. This means that many people will be injured, many will need hospitals and huge numbers will die.”
Dr. Amish Adalga, an infectious disease expert and researcher at Johns Hopkins, commented: “If you’re going to apply herd immunity, you need to strengthen nursing homes and do some tests, tracking and
isolation. If herd immunity does not include these steps, it will be extremely difficult to protect the population at risk.”
Experts advised preventive measures to wear muzzles, maintain social spacing rules and constantly wash hands with soap and water, saying they are more effective in countering the virus than “herd immunity” that can be counterproductive.