Although countries believe that in a short time there will be group immunity , the prestigious German virologist Christian Drosten clarifies that the concept of herd immunity has not been well understood and explains what will happen to those who do not get vaccinated .
Drosten has been a protagonist during this pandemic for his information about the virus and for advising Angela Merkel on Covid-19 in Germany.
It is considered that when 70% of the population is immunized , something that can happen this summer in Spain due to the good rate of vaccination, the remaining 30% can be protected because they would no longer have contact with the virus. But Drosten does not see this theory as true and comments that this could not be the case.
In an interview with the German media Republik, the doctor comments that the concept of group immunity is not well understood , because it applies to viruses that have origin and effects on animals. It has been used with other viruses such as rinderpest, but in any case, it does not have the same effects on humans.
Because we are not a closed group and human beings move and interact with other humans from other countries, etc. Thus he sends a message to those who do not get vaccinated saying that they can still be infected with Sars-2 , even if they reach 70% immunity.
In addition, in the interview, Drosten adds that, within a few years, 100% of the population will have been vaccinated or infected. But the coronavirus will continue to infect people , now it may well remain a cold-like virus.
Regarding the Covid-19 variants, which are currently swarming the world, the virologist believes that, although the virus mutates, our body will be able to defend itself.
Now, it specifies that we can be re-infected relatively soon, if the virus has mutated where we are , but that the disease would pass slightly because with vaccines we would be partially protected.
So you think the vaccine can protect us from getting seriously ill. Explain that T cells can recognize the virus based on many different characteristics. The virus can easily lose some of its characteristics through mutations.
Regarding the origin of the virus, the virologist sees it likely that it was an animal, such as a dog that ate a bat and contracted the coronavirus and then infected humans with whom it had contact.
