Herd immunity doubts as Spanish study finds just 5% of population have Covid antibodies
Experts say ‘sobering’ results show importance of vaccine and track-and-trace systems
Hopes of achieving sufficient levels of herd immunity to combat the coronavirus pandemic are unrealistic, a new Spanish study suggests.
The research, outlined in a paper in The Lancet, found that just 5.2% of more than 60,000 people tested three times in as many months had developed coronavirus antibodies.
But “around 70% to 90% of a population needs to be immune to protect the uninfected”, the BBC says.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Study co-author Dr Marina Pollan, director of Spain’s National Centre of Epidemiology, said that the results show that “Spain is a long way from reaching so-called herd immunity”, reports The Telegraph.
And “it would be very unethical to expose the population to the coronavirus in an indiscriminate way,” she added.
The study paper says that the low rate of antibodies found “despite the high impact of Covid -19 in Spain” indicates that herd immunity “cannot be achieved without accepting the collateral damage of many deaths in the susceptible population and overburdening of health systems”.
Spain has reported almost 251,800 coronavirus infections, and just under 28,400 related deaths, according to latest figures.
Similar studies in China and the US have also found “that most of the population appears to have remained unexposed” to the virus, “even in areas with widespread virus circulation”, the Spanish researchers report.
“Social distance measures and efforts to identify and isolate new cases and their contacts are imperative for future epidemic control,” they conclude.
British Society for Immunology spokesperson Danny Altmann, a professor of immunology at Imperial College London, described the study findings as “sobering”.
The results show that “the challenge is to identify the best vaccine strategies able to overcome these problems and stimulate a large, sustained, optimal, immune response in the way the virus failed to do”, he said.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
'Make legal immigration a more plausible option'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
LA-to-Las Vegas high-speed rail line breaks ground
Speed Read The railway will be ready as soon as 2028
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Israel's military intelligence chief resigns
Speed Read Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva is the first leader to quit for failing to prevent the Hamas attack in October
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Nigeria's worsening rate of maternal mortality
Under the radar Economic crisis is making hospitals unaffordable, with women increasingly not receiving the care they need
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Dengue hits the Americas hard and early
Speed Read Puerto Rico has declared an epidemic as dengue cases surge
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Covid four years on: have we got over the pandemic?
Today's Big Question Brits suffering from both lockdown nostalgia and collective trauma that refuses to go away
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
How happy is Finland really?
Today's Big Question Nordic nation tops global happiness survey for seventh year in a row with 'focus on contentment over joy'
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
The hollow classroom
Opinion Remote school let kids down. It will take much more than extra tutoring for kids to recover.
By Mark Gimein Published
-
How Tehran became the world's nose job capital
Under the radar Iranian doctors raise alarm over low costs, weak regulation and online influence of 'Western beauty standards'
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Africa's renewed battle against female genital mutilation
Under the radar Campaigners call for ban in Sierra Leone after deaths of three girls as coast-to-coast convoy prepares to depart
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Excess screen time is making children only see what is in front of them
Under the radar The future is looking blurry. And very nearsighted.
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published