Controlling the transmission is as important as immunization

As the vaccination rate is increasing across the world, we see widespread relaxation of COVID-19 appropriate behavior leading to increased risk of new variants and transmission. In fact, people see such relaxation as an incentive to get vaccinated. There is no doubt that vaccination plays a crucial role in the fight against the pandemic, but we need to understand that the vaccination against COVID-19 is aimed at achieving herd immunity. The transmission of a disease stops only after a certain percentage of the population has developed immunity against the disease, called the herd immunity threshold. This number varies from disease to disease. For example, the herd immunity threshold for measles is 95% and for polio, it is 80%. We still do not know this number for COVID-19. This means we have to aim at vaccinating the entire population of the world!

To achieve this herd immunity against COVID-19, we need time. It takes several months to fully vaccinate the global population and until then it is safe and wiser to not ease restriction even for those who are fully vaccinated. As an example, if we look at Seychelles, the most vaccinated country (62% population fully vaccinated) against COVID-19, is seeing a rise in the number of cases. According to Dr. Gedeon, the Seychelles health Commissioner, the cases are raising because the restrictions were relaxed starting from the month of March. In contrast, Japan one of the lowest vaccination rates (about 2%) has the least number of cases per million, thanks to their mask culture. Even in India, the number of daily new cases has come down drastically from record-high numbers following weeks of restrictions. Of course, experts list multiple reasons for the recent surge in Seychelles including vaccine efficacy, new variants, logistics, etc but it is well-established fact that restrictions work!

Vaccination is great but it needs time, not just for logistics, but also to build immunity. After all, most COVID-19 vaccines require two shots with 4 to 8 weeks' time between each shot. By relaxing restrictions early, we pave the way for new mutants to appear more frequently. This may further affect the vaccine efficacy.

The battle against the COVID-19 pandemic requires both restrictions and mass vaccination programs. Focussing on one over the other may unnecessarily prolong the battle and may cost countless lives. The pandemic cannot be let to take its course!

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