Quote:
Originally Posted by
boozehound
Because we haven't established that people have immunity for any significant amount of time.
Man you guys are "glass half-empty" kind of people!
Just because immunity wears off doesn't mean herd immunity can't be achieved. Herd immunity means the disease can no longer be a pandemic with exponential growth. It doesn't mean it's gone forever. The longer the body's immunity lasts, the more effective the herd immunity, just like the more effective the vaccine. Similarly, the most contagious viruses (highest Ro) will require the greatest % of the population with antibodies to achieve herd immunity. It's not an all or none, but
ALL viruses result in herd immunity, in some form.
I'll give you that yes, we don't know how long immunity will last, but since COVID-19 is a coronavirus, is likely to act like other coronaviruses (SARS, MERS), where the bodies immune response has shown to last at least several years. If that were the case, we'll very likely have a vaccine. I'm going to the bank with that.