COVID-19: Herd immunity in India not a strategic option, says Health Ministry
"Herd immunity can only be achieved through immunization and that is far in future and it is important that we should follow Covid-19 preventive measures i.e. wear face masks, maintain social distancing and hand hygiene," said Bhushan.
New Delhi: Herd immunity developed against coronavirus cannot be a strategic option or choice for a country like India with a huge population, said an official from the Union Health Ministry on Thursday.
Herd immunity is a kind of indirect protection from an infectious disease like COVID-19. Experts say that herd immunity happens only when the population becomes immune either through vaccination or its immunity is developed through a previous infection.
“In a country like India with its size and population, herd immunity cannot be a strategic choice or strategic option. It can only be an outcome and that too, a very high cost. That means, thousands or lakhs of patients get infected, they go to a hospital for treatment, resulting in a large fatality and hence, herd immunity can never be a strategic option,” said Rajesh Bhushan, Officer on Special Duty (OSD) at the union health ministry.
Herd immunity in a country of the size & population of India can’t be a strategic option. It can only be achieved through immunisation. Health Ministry thinks it’s possible in future but for now we’ve to follow COVID appropriate behaviour: R Bhushan, Secretary, Ministry of Health pic.twitter.com/2u5G0FQvL0
— ANI (@ANI) July 30, 2020
“Herd immunity can only be achieved through immunization and that is far in future and it is important that we should follow Covid-19 preventive measures i.e. wear face masks, maintain social distancing and hand hygiene,” said Bhushan.
India witnessed a single-day spike of 52,123 COVID-19 positive cases as the total cases in the country reached 15,83,792, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Thursday.
The including 5,28,242 active cases and 10,20,582 cured/discharged cases, the Health Ministry added. A total of 775 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours taking the death toll to 34,968. (ANI)