Herd Immunity In India

India's fight against COVID-19 is shaping up much better than neighbouring China due to robust "hybrid immunity", the head of the country's vaccine task force told NDTV today in an exclusive interview.

"The severity of the infection is not as much as they used to be with Delta. That's because we do have herd immunity to an extent. Actually, we have herd immunity because we are exposed to the other viruses," he told PTI.

It cannot be said that Delhi has attained herd immunity despite the latest serological survey showing that 97 per cent people here have developed antibodies against COVID-19, experts said on Thursday and cautioned people to not let their guard down.

The severe outbreak of COVID-19 in Delhi this year showed that the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 can infect previously exposed people through a different variant of the coronavirus, highlighting the challenges of reaching herd immunity against it.

Johnson & Johnson has applied for permission to conduct COVID-19 vaccine trials in India on children in the 12-17 age group, saying it is critical that "all sections of the population" are vaccinated to ensure achievement of herd immunity status.

Herd immunity is "very difficult" to achieve and one should not think of it in "practical terms" in India, especially in the times of "variant strains" of COVID-19 and "waning immunity", claimed AIIMS director Randeep Guleria on Sunday.

Herd immunity for coronavirus is a "myth" in India because at least 80 per cent people need to have antibodies for the whole of the population to be protected, Dr Randeep Guleria told NDTV on Saturday. This, he said, would be difficult if one takes into account the new Indian strains found in Maharashtra -- which could be highly transmissible and d...

One in two residents in Delhi has been exposed to the coronavirus and developed antibodies for the infection, the fifth serological survey in the capital has found, the government said on Tuesday. The data suggested that the city of 2 crore is inching towards herd immunity - when the majority of the population becomes immune to a disease, slowing i...

Delhi is moving towards herd immunity from coronavirus, with 50 to 60 per cent of people in one district having developed antibodies to the virus, the latest round of sero-survey has found, sources said. Herd immunity is what the authorities are trying to achieve with the vaccination programme, in which a critical mass of immune people can stop the...

Delhi is moving towards herd immunity from coronavirus, with 50 to 60 per cent of people in one district having developed antibodies to the virus, the latest round of sero-survey has found, sources said. Herd immunity is what the authorities are trying to achieve with the vaccination programme, in which a critical mass of immune people can stop the...

India is the largest buyer of COVID-19 vaccines in the world with 1.6 billion doses, according to a global analysis, a number some scientists say could cover 800 million people, or 60 per cent of its population, and will be enough to develop "herd immunity".

Managing COVID-19 by allowing herd immunity to develop in low-risk populations while protecting the most vulnerable is "a dangerous fallacy unsupported by the scientific evidence," warn an international group of 80 researchers in an open letter.

Only 23.7 per cent of Assam's population - or one out of every five persons - has been exposed to coronavirus till mid-August. This is far less than what is required for the population to develop herd immunity, the first ever seroprevalence survey conducted state has shown.

India cannot count on herd immunity to stop the coronavirus pandemic given its demography and scale, the Health Ministry said on Thursday, adding that the country will have to rely on a vaccine to fully beat COVID-19.

Around six in ten people living in some of the biggest slums in the country have antibodies for the novel coronavirus indicating they've recovered from infection, in what appears to be one of the highest population immunity levels known worldwide.

India's fight against COVID-19 is shaping up much better than neighbouring China due to robust "hybrid immunity", the head of the country's vaccine task force told NDTV today in an exclusive interview.

"The severity of the infection is not as much as they used to be with Delta. That's because we do have herd immunity to an extent. Actually, we have herd immunity because we are exposed to the other viruses," he told PTI.

It cannot be said that Delhi has attained herd immunity despite the latest serological survey showing that 97 per cent people here have developed antibodies against COVID-19, experts said on Thursday and cautioned people to not let their guard down.

The severe outbreak of COVID-19 in Delhi this year showed that the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 can infect previously exposed people through a different variant of the coronavirus, highlighting the challenges of reaching herd immunity against it.

Johnson & Johnson has applied for permission to conduct COVID-19 vaccine trials in India on children in the 12-17 age group, saying it is critical that "all sections of the population" are vaccinated to ensure achievement of herd immunity status.

Herd immunity is "very difficult" to achieve and one should not think of it in "practical terms" in India, especially in the times of "variant strains" of COVID-19 and "waning immunity", claimed AIIMS director Randeep Guleria on Sunday.

Herd immunity for coronavirus is a "myth" in India because at least 80 per cent people need to have antibodies for the whole of the population to be protected, Dr Randeep Guleria told NDTV on Saturday. This, he said, would be difficult if one takes into account the new Indian strains found in Maharashtra -- which could be highly transmissible and d...

One in two residents in Delhi has been exposed to the coronavirus and developed antibodies for the infection, the fifth serological survey in the capital has found, the government said on Tuesday. The data suggested that the city of 2 crore is inching towards herd immunity - when the majority of the population becomes immune to a disease, slowing i...

Delhi is moving towards herd immunity from coronavirus, with 50 to 60 per cent of people in one district having developed antibodies to the virus, the latest round of sero-survey has found, sources said. Herd immunity is what the authorities are trying to achieve with the vaccination programme, in which a critical mass of immune people can stop the...

Delhi is moving towards herd immunity from coronavirus, with 50 to 60 per cent of people in one district having developed antibodies to the virus, the latest round of sero-survey has found, sources said. Herd immunity is what the authorities are trying to achieve with the vaccination programme, in which a critical mass of immune people can stop the...

India is the largest buyer of COVID-19 vaccines in the world with 1.6 billion doses, according to a global analysis, a number some scientists say could cover 800 million people, or 60 per cent of its population, and will be enough to develop "herd immunity".

Managing COVID-19 by allowing herd immunity to develop in low-risk populations while protecting the most vulnerable is "a dangerous fallacy unsupported by the scientific evidence," warn an international group of 80 researchers in an open letter.

Only 23.7 per cent of Assam's population - or one out of every five persons - has been exposed to coronavirus till mid-August. This is far less than what is required for the population to develop herd immunity, the first ever seroprevalence survey conducted state has shown.

India cannot count on herd immunity to stop the coronavirus pandemic given its demography and scale, the Health Ministry said on Thursday, adding that the country will have to rely on a vaccine to fully beat COVID-19.

Around six in ten people living in some of the biggest slums in the country have antibodies for the novel coronavirus indicating they've recovered from infection, in what appears to be one of the highest population immunity levels known worldwide.