Herd immunity requires effective vaccine: WHO
London: The World Health Organization says the planet is nowhere near the amount of coronavirus immunity needed to induce herd immunity, where enough of the population would have antibodies to stop the spread.
Herd immunity is typically achieved with vaccination and most scientists estimate at least 70 per cent of the population must have antibodies to prevent an outbreak. But some experts have suggested that even if half the population had immunity, there might be a protective effect.
WHO's emergencies chief Dr. Michael Ryan largely dismissed that theory at a press briefing on Tuesday, saying we should not live in hope of achieving herd immunity.
As a global population, we are nowhere close to the levels of immunity required to stop this disease transmitting, he said. This is not a solution and not a solution we should be looking to. Most studies conducted to date have suggested only about 10 per cent to 20 per cent of people have antibodies.
Dr. Bruce Aylward, a senior adviser to WHO's director-general, added that any mass immunisation campaign with a COVID-19 vaccine would aim to cover far more than 50 per cent of the world's population.
We don't want to be wrong, he said. You want to plan to get high coverage and not get lulled into a dangerously seductive suggestion that (the herd immunity threshold) could be low.
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'India stands in solidarity': PM speaks to UAE president, condemns attacks on Gulf nation
New Delhi (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday night spoke to the President of the UAE, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and strongly condemned the attacks on the Gulf nation, saying India stands in solidarity with the UAE in these difficult times.
Mod also thanked the UAE president for taking care of the Indian community living in the Gulf nation, and said New Delhi supports de-escalation, regional peace, security and stability.
"Spoke with President of the UAE, my brother Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Strongly condemned the attacks on the UAE and condoled the loss of lives in these attacks. India stands in solidarity with the UAE in these difficult times.
"Thanked him for taking care of the Indian community living in the UAE. We support de-escalation, regional peace, security and stability," Modi wrote on X.
Iranian strikes across the UAE in the past two days have resulted in three fatalities and injuries to 58 people, including an Indian national, officials confirmed on Sunday.
The Indian Embassy in the UAE, in a social media post, said it was aware of the injury to the Indian national and was in touch with the hospital authorities.
The UAE's defence ministry said it intercepted 165 ballistic missiles, of which 152 were destroyed, and 13 drowned in the sea.
It also destroyed two cruise missiles and 541 Iranian drones, 506 of which were shot down, the ministry said.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a coordinated US-Israeli airstrike on Tehran early Saturday, with the Iranian state media confirming the death on Sunday.
Iran began firing missiles at Israel and the Arab countries in the region in retaliation for the killing of its supreme leader.
