Herd Immunity: A Success or a Failure

Abstract

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the most debated scientific topic has been Herd Immunity. It may be defined as a situation in which a major portion of a population (about 60 - 90%) develops some form of the disease and, therefore, becomes resistant to it. However, with such large number of cases, the healthcare facilities are bound to get overloaded. Some patients with severe cases of COVID-19 will be required to get admitted into the ICU (intensive care units) – which have limited beds. This could lead to more preventable deaths. Herd immunity has both positive and negative aspects. For instance, if we fail in the halfway for example in the country Sweden, then it will result in more deaths rather than decreasing the spread of infection. According to several theoretical modelling that people have conducted across the world and also in India suggest that there could be few waves of COVID-19 and people need to be prepared for them. In this review we are trying to assess whether herd immunity is a success or a failure.