1/ Herd Immunity - what is it, why we want, & how do we do it?🐮
"When most of a population is immune to an infectious disease, this provides indirect protection—or herd immunity...to those who are not immune to the disease."
jhsph.edu/covid-19/artic…
"When most of a population is immune to an infectious disease, this provides indirect protection—or herd immunity...to those who are not immune to the disease."
jhsph.edu/covid-19/artic…
2/ "For example, if 80% of a population is immune to a virus, four out of every five people who encounter someone with the disease won’t get sick (and won’t spread the disease any further). In this way, the spread of infectious diseases is kept under control." 
3/ How many people need to be immune so we have herd immunity? 🐮
"Depending how contagious an infection is, usually 70% to 90% of a population needs immunity to achieve herd immunity."
"Depending how contagious an infection is, usually 70% to 90% of a population needs immunity to achieve herd immunity."
4/ “A lot of people are dying,” [Trump] says, “so it’s very unpleasant."
Good hygiene, Stay-in-place, physical distancing, &/or ride-it-out, are 4 approaches to battling the coronavirus that causes COVID until we get "herd immunity".🐮
apnews.com/dac7209821f922…
Good hygiene, Stay-in-place, physical distancing, &/or ride-it-out, are 4 approaches to battling the coronavirus that causes COVID until we get "herd immunity".🐮
apnews.com/dac7209821f922…
5/ "Riding it out" is not new.
'Why don't we ride it out?' A lot of people have said -- a lot of people have thought about it. 'Ride it out. Don't do anything, just ride it out and think of it as the flu.' But it's not the flu. It's vicious," he said.
edition.cnn.com/2020/03/31/pol…
'Why don't we ride it out?' A lot of people have said -- a lot of people have thought about it. 'Ride it out. Don't do anything, just ride it out and think of it as the flu.' But it's not the flu. It's vicious," he said.
edition.cnn.com/2020/03/31/pol…
6/ "Get it over with".
Before, people intentionally exposed themselves to chickenpox to "get it over with".
Until a vaccine was developed:
"About 90% of non-immune household contacts of someone infected with chickenpox will contract the disease."
historyofvaccines.org/content/articl…
Before, people intentionally exposed themselves to chickenpox to "get it over with".
Until a vaccine was developed:
"About 90% of non-immune household contacts of someone infected with chickenpox will contract the disease."
historyofvaccines.org/content/articl…
7/ Remember the 1764 smallpox outbreak in Boston, Mass shown on HBO series "John Adams"?
Many people had smallpox injected into themselves to suffer from a less severe form of the deadly virus. Adams didn't bc he didn't want to miss 4 weeks of school.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inoculati…
Many people had smallpox injected into themselves to suffer from a less severe form of the deadly virus. Adams didn't bc he didn't want to miss 4 weeks of school.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inoculati…
8/ "Why is “get it over with or "riding it out" not a good idea with COVID?
"...the situation for SARS-CoV-2 is very different: COVID-19 carries a much higher risk of severe disease and even death."
"...the situation for SARS-CoV-2 is very different: COVID-19 carries a much higher risk of severe disease and even death."
9/ Surviving COVID, good hygiene, stay-in-place & physical distancing are our options until there's a vaccine.
"...the virus can infect this many [70%] people in a matter of a few months. This would overwhelm our hospitals and lead to high death rates."
theguardian.com/us-news/2020/a…
"...the virus can infect this many [70%] people in a matter of a few months. This would overwhelm our hospitals and lead to high death rates."
theguardian.com/us-news/2020/a…
10/ Stay-in-place measures are effective.
New Zealand had an almost immediate & total lockdown as soon as the first COVID case appeared. They now are relaxing them.
Number of Cases/Million = 307
Number of Deaths/Million = 4
85% of COVID cases have recovered.
May 01, 19:03 GMT
New Zealand had an almost immediate & total lockdown as soon as the first COVID case appeared. They now are relaxing them.
Number of Cases/Million = 307
Number of Deaths/Million = 4
85% of COVID cases have recovered.
May 01, 19:03 GMT
11/ The USA & the other countries have uneven stay-in-place policies. Some of the **reported** USA stats are:
Number of Cases/Million = 3,366
Number of Deaths/Million = 196
Only 14% of COVID cases have recovered.
Number of Cases/Million = 3,366
Number of Deaths/Million = 196
Only 14% of COVID cases have recovered.
12/ "The trendlines [for COVID cases] mostly look the same, which is good. I have to say, though, that although the US numbers are declining, they are sure taking their sweet time. We really, really need to start seeing a steeper drop in CV19 deaths."
motherjones.com/kevin-drum/202…
motherjones.com/kevin-drum/202…
13/ Probabilistic models of herd immunity for COVID will change as good hygiene, stay-in-place, and/or physical distancing are maintained or not.
14/ I agree w/Trump on this: we want our lives back.
But how many lives will it cost us before we do?
“I want our life back again,” [Trump] says.
“I want our country back.
“I want the world back.
“I want the world to get rid of this.” (AP articles)
But how many lives will it cost us before we do?
“I want our life back again,” [Trump] says.
“I want our country back.
“I want the world back.
“I want the world to get rid of this.” (AP articles)
15/
".. unless we want hundreds of millions of Americans to get infected with SARS-CoV-2 [to establish herd immunity]... life is not likely to be completely “normal” again until a vaccine can be developed and widely distributed." (Johns Hopkins)
snopes.com/fact-check/mas…
".. unless we want hundreds of millions of Americans to get infected with SARS-CoV-2 [to establish herd immunity]... life is not likely to be completely “normal” again until a vaccine can be developed and widely distributed." (Johns Hopkins)
snopes.com/fact-check/mas…
16/ The effects of restarting our social lives &/or returning to work won't be easy, straight-forward, or is entirely knowable at this point.
17/ Herd immunity is the goal.🐮
♥️Stay home (as much as possible).
♥️ Practice social distancing.
♥️Practice good hygiene (wash hands, masks, etc.)
♥️ Stay well.
♥️ Help save the lives of your family, friends, loved ones, your neighbors, and our medical communities.
♥️Stay home (as much as possible).
♥️ Practice social distancing.
♥️Practice good hygiene (wash hands, masks, etc.)
♥️ Stay well.
♥️ Help save the lives of your family, friends, loved ones, your neighbors, and our medical communities.
