Herd Immunity By Natural Infection Very Difficult, Says AIIMS Director

Sero surveillance data has shown that only around 20 to 25 per cent of individuals across the country have positive antibodies, so herd immunity by natural infection is very difficult to achieve, according to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) director Randeep Guleria.

"If we are looking at herd immunity by natural infection, that will be very very difficult and it is unlikely that we will able to achieve that because the sero surveillance data shows only around 20 to 25 per cent individual nationally have positive antibodies so it would be very difficult," Dr Guleria said.

"We know that people with mild infections tend to gain antibodies over time. One way of having a good amount of people who have some immunity is vaccination. If we are able to vaccinate a large number of individuals we will have a good mass of people who are protected or immune and that will be very useful," the AIIMS director added.

Once less number of cases is reported in any setup, the chances of mutation occurring become less, Guleria said.

"Mutation happens because of more and more replication. If we can keep our cases down or allow them to further fall, we will not see that much of mutation happening as one would have seen otherwise," he said.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in India stands at 1,10,30,176 and the active cases tally is 1,46,907.

While as many as 1,56,567 deaths have been reported, a total of 1,07,26,702 people have been discharged.