Filenews 3 May 2021 - by Andrea Demetriou
Entering the second week of the third lockdown in Cyprus and with vaccinations steadily progressing at younger ages, the question is when society will return to normality. To do this, however, at least 70% of the population will have to be vaccinated, a figure that Cyprus is expected to reach in mid-summer, if and when the vaccination programme continues at the same rate and, of course, if citizens trust vaccines. This percentage is important, as according to the experts, the Cypriot community will be able to acquire the so-called immunity of the herd.
In a statement to eyenews, Associate Professor in The Pharmacy Program at the University of Nicosia, Christos Petrou explained that "herd immunity", also known as "community immunity", is the indirect protection of the community from an infectious disease that occurs when a population is immune, either through vaccination or immunity developed through previous infection.
The WHO supports its achievement through vaccination, since a protective shield is formed in the community, which does not allow a disease to spread to a large part of the population and prevent hospitalizations and deaths. This protection is therefore a social defence which stops the transmission of the virus and which indirectly protects the few who have not been vaccinated.
Mr. Petrou also noted that some wrongly argue that herd immunity can be achieved through natural disease. "This leads to deaths from infection, which could be avoided by using vaccines. In Manaus, Brazil, they felt that they became immune after many were diseased in the first wave and it turned out to be a boomerang, since in the second wave there was a hundredth of the dead and mutations appeared on top of that. Vaccination creates immunity without the need for the person to be infected with the disease, explained Mr. Petrou.
Asked when Cyprus was expected to achieve herd immunity, Mr Petrou said this question could not be clearly answered. "There are reports that more than 70% of the population will have to be vaccinated to do so. There are variables such as vaccine efficacy, availability, epidemiological picture of virus transmission and possible serious mutations. For measles, which is highly contagious, we know we need 95% for herd immunity. If it falls a little further down we see epidemics," he said.
According to the website Time to Herd which calculates the days until a country becomes immune to the herd, Cyprus still has a long way to go, since it is estimated that it will acquire it in 296 days. Note that the calculation is made according to the vaccinations of each country.
