{"id":243457,"date":"2021-05-06T15:08:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-06T12:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/is-herd-immunity-a-realistic-concept-fauci-calls-it-elusive-and-mystical\/"},"modified":"2021-05-06T15:08:00","modified_gmt":"2021-05-06T12:08:00","slug":"is-herd-immunity-a-realistic-concept-fauci-calls-it-elusive-and-mystical","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/is-herd-immunity-a-realistic-concept-fauci-calls-it-elusive-and-mystical\/","title":{"rendered":"#\n  Is herd immunity a realistic concept? Fauci calls it \u2018elusive\u2019 and \u2018mystical\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a40e4a7270b7\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a40e4a7270b7\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/is-herd-immunity-a-realistic-concept-fauci-calls-it-elusive-and-mystical\/#%E2%80%98We_should_just_be_concerned_about_getting_as_many_people_vaccinated_as_quickly_as_we_possibly_can_because_herd_immunity_is_still_somewhat_of_an_elusive_number_Dr_Fauci_has_said\" >\u2018We should just be concerned about getting as many people vaccinated as quickly as we possibly can because herd immunity is still somewhat of an elusive number,\u2019 Dr. Fauci has said<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-4' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-4'><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-4' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/is-herd-immunity-a-realistic-concept-fauci-calls-it-elusive-and-mystical\/#Jaimy_Lee\" >Jaimy Lee<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;<strong>#<br \/>\n  Is herd immunity a realistic concept? Fauci calls it \u2018elusive\u2019 and \u2018mystical\u2019<br \/>\n<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"article__subhead\" itemprop=\"alternativeHeadline\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%98We_should_just_be_concerned_about_getting_as_many_people_vaccinated_as_quickly_as_we_possibly_can_because_herd_immunity_is_still_somewhat_of_an_elusive_number_Dr_Fauci_has_said\"><\/span>\n  \u2018We should just be concerned about getting as many people vaccinated as quickly as we possibly can because herd immunity is still somewhat of an elusive number,\u2019 Dr. Fauci has said<br \/>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"column column--full article__content\">\n<div class=\"article__side\">\n<div class=\"container--sticky not-active\">\n<div class=\"cx--next\">\n              <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"js-article__body\" class=\"article__body article-wrap at16-col16 barrons-article-wrap\" itemprop=\"articleBody\" data-sbid=\"WP-MKTW-0000254505\">\n<div class=\"barrons-article-ad-wrapper\">\n<div data-track=\"barrons-article-ad-wrap\" class=\"barrons-article-ad sticky_item\">\n<div class=\"barrons-main-article-ad-target sticky_target body_ad\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>       Of all the moving goal posts in the COVID-19 pandemic, herd immunity may be the most difficult to pin down \u2014 and it may even be the wrong metric to track.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p> Herd immunity is the concept that once a majority of the population has been vaccinated or has natural immunity to an infectious disease, in this case SARS-CoV-2, life will shift back to normal. <\/p>\n<div class=\"paywall\">\n       But to listen to Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden\u2019s chief medical adviser and the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is to hear him downplay the focus on this \u201celusive\u201d concept and instead urge Americans to pay attention to other figures like vaccination rates. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe should not get so fixated on this elusive number of herd immunity,\u201d Fauci said March 15. \u201cWe should just be concerned about getting as many people vaccinated as quickly as we possibly can because herd immunity is still somewhat of an elusive number.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Fauci has referred to herd immunity as an \u201celusive\u201d concept at least seven times over the last two months during the White House\u2019s COVID-19 briefings.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s why the concept of herd immunity is so complicated:\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul class=\"articleList\">\n<li>\n      <strong>There is no standard percentage to get to herd immunity<\/strong>. Gavi, a global health organization focused on immunization, puts the benchmark for herd immunity at <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gavi.org\/vaccineswork\/what-herd-immunity?gclid=Cj0KCQjwvr6EBhDOARIsAPpqUPF7f0tcfS9UdwTOmBoCt9bubI2U97PhAK-f01b5vMzQheYpTkGHeqgaAi-aEALw_wcB\" class=\"icon none\">60%<\/a>. Fauci estimates that herd immunity will occur when between 70% and 85% of the population is protected. Even Biden has weighed in. \u201cThere\u2019s a debate about what constitutes herd immunity,\u201d he said Monday. \u201cIs it 70%? 68%? 81%? The point is right now every single person 16 years or older doesn\u2019t have to wait in line. Just show up and get a vaccination now.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n      <strong>We don\u2019t know how long immunity to the virus lasts<\/strong>, both in people who have recovered from COVID-19 and those who have been vaccinated. Moderna Inc.<br \/>\n        MRNA,<br \/>\n        <bg-quote field=\"percentchange\" format=\"0,000.00%\" channel=\"\/zigman2\/quotes\/205619834\/composite\" class=\"negative\">-6.19%<\/bg-quote><br \/>\n       recently said participants in the Phase 1 clinical trial still had antibodies six months after getting the second dose of its COVID-19 vaccine, while Pfizer Inc.<br \/>\n        PFE,<br \/>\n        <bg-quote field=\"percentchange\" format=\"0,000.00%\" channel=\"\/zigman2\/quotes\/202877789\/composite\" class=\"positive\">+0.05%<\/bg-quote><br \/>\n       said its vaccine had a 91% efficacy rate in clinical-trial participants six months after they received the second shot. \u201cHerd immunity is kind of an elusive terminology because we don\u2019t know what that percentage of protection is,\u201d Fauci said April 9. It \u201cwill be a combination of people who are protected by vaccination, as well as those who were infected, who have recovered, and now have protective immunity.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n      <strong>As we start to exit this phase of restricted living \u2014 working from home, wearing masks, and steering clear of large events that have all but been shuttered \u2014 behavioral changes may also impact the path to herd immunity. <\/strong>This could mean that looser <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">social<\/a>-distancing practices may increase people\u2019s exposure to the virus. In addition, immunity to the virus could differ in the winter versus the summer, similar to how common colds tend to affect more people in the winter months in the Northern Hemisphere, according to researchers writing a <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/jamanetwork.com\/journals\/jama\/fullarticle\/2777343?resultClick=1\" class=\"icon none\">JAMA viewpoint<\/a> last month. <\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>What <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ears to be a much clearer concept is how life could change if herd immunity is reached. In that futuristic world, we would throw away our masks, gather indoors with strangers, and push our way onto crowded trains and into packed concerts. <\/p>\n<div data-layout=\"header\n                \" data-layout-mobile=\"\" class=\"\n          media-object\n          type-InsetMediaVideo\n            header\n  article__inset\n          article__inset--type-InsetMediaVideo\n            article__inset--header\n  \"><\/p>\n<figure class=\"media-object-video article__inset__video media-object-video--standard\">\n<div class=\"wsj-media-summary clearfix\">\n<div class=\"strap-container\">\n<h4 class=\"strap\" itemprop=\"description\">\n<\/h4><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"video-container article__inset__video__player\" id=\"http:\/\/www.marketwatch.com\/news\/77E526F6-6F70-445A-95E8-3F7C32D32D0D\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.marketwatch.com\/news\/77E526F6-6F70-445A-95E8-3F7C32D32D0D\" data-format=\"standard\" data-esplash=\"\" data-msplash=\"\" data-suppressheadline=\"\" data-verticalstill=\"\">\n  <\/div><figcaption class=\"wsj-article-caption article__inset__video__caption\">\n          Scientists worked at breakneck speed to develop an effective vaccine for the coronavirus. Their ultimate goal: to immunize enough of the world\u2019s population to reach herd immunity. WSJ explains.\u00a0Illustration: Jacob Reynolds<br \/>\n        <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>       But if herd immunity is as difficult to track as Fauci says it is, then what is the best metric to track our way out of this pandemic? Is it vaccination rates? Is it the scientific R0 figure, which explains how contagious the virus is? What about the number of hospitalizations and deaths?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to get away from waiting for this mystical elusive number and just \u2026 get as many people as we possibly can get vaccinated as quickly as possible,\u201d Fauci said in April. <\/p>\n<p><strong>See now:<\/strong> India\u2019s COVID-19 case tally tops 20 million after nearly doubling in three months<\/p>\n<div id=\"cx-membership-tile\"><\/div>\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t want to get too hung up on reaching this end<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/game\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"7\" title=\"Game\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">game<\/a> of herd immunity because every day that you put 2 million to 3 million vaccinations into people [it] makes society be more and more protected,\u201d he noted a month earlier. <\/p>\n<p>More than 105 million people in the U.S. are fully vaccinated, as of Tuesday, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/covid.cdc.gov\/covid-data-tracker\/#vaccinations\" class=\"icon none\">according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a>. That\u2019s essentially one-third of the U.S. population. That said, public-health experts are increasingly concerned that vaccination is going to slow down in the coming weeks, and immunization rates may plateau.\u00a0The Kaiser Family Foundation <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kff.org\/policy-watch\/supply-vs-demand-when-will-the-scales-tip-on-covid-19-vaccination-in-the-u-s\/\" class=\"icon none\">predicts<\/a> that by mid-May all the people in the U.S. who wanted a vaccine will have gotten their shots. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Don\u2019t miss:<\/strong> What we know about COVID vaccine side effects in women<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOnce this happens, efforts to encourage vaccination will become much harder, presenting a challenge to reaching the levels of herd immunity\u00a0that are expected to be needed,\u201d KFF\u2019s health policy experts there wrote in April.  <\/p>\n<p>(One caveat is that if Pfizer\u2019s vaccine is authorized within the week for 12-to-15 year-olds, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/live\/2021\/05\/03\/world\/covid-vaccine-coronavirus-cases#pfizer-covid-vaccine-teens\" class=\"icon none\">as sources told the New York Times<\/a>, that may boost vaccine interest for a group that hasn\u2019t been able to get immunized yet.)<\/p>\n<p>In a note to investors last week, RBC Capital Markets\u2019 Brian Abrahams wrote that the \u201cthreshold for \u2018herd immunity\u2019 may be a moving target, but there are some interesting clues on when transmission may slow; increasingly look toward reductions in overall cases and morbidity\/mortality to better guide potential return toward normalcy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Abrahams expects \u201cdramatic drops\u201d in new cases by June in the U.S. but also an increase in cases in the fall and winter. But reaching \u201ctrue\u201d herd immunity may be a wobblier line, based on the emergence of more infectious variants, waning immunity, and plateauing vaccination rates as a result of the vaccine hesitant. <\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"byline article__byline\">\n<p>      <span>By<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"author  hasMenu\" data-scrim='{\"type\":\"author\",\"header\":\"Jaimy Lee\",\"subhead\":\"The Wall Street Journal\",\"list\":[]}' itemscope itemprop=\"author\" itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/Person\">\n<h4 itemprop=\"name\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Jaimy_Lee\"><\/span>Jaimy Lee<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h4>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.marketwatch.com\/news\/story.asp?guid=%7B21005575-02D4-D4B5-4572-D3E22992BC7D%7D&#038;siteid=rss&#038;rss=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;# Is herd immunity a realistic concept? Fauci calls it \u2018elusive\u2019 and \u2018mystical\u2019 &#8221; \u2018We should just be concerned about getting as many people vaccinated as quickly as we possibly can because herd immunity is still somewhat of an elusive number,\u2019 Dr. Fauci has said Of all the moving goal posts in the COVID-19 pandemic,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":243458,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-243457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243457"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243457\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/243458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}