Recently, I was listening to the radio in the car. While I was listening, a story came on the news about how Sweden is handing the coronavirus in their country by using a strategy known as herd immunity. Herd immunity is when at least 60% of the population has contracted the virus. In theory, when someone recovers from the virus, they build immunity against it. That doesn’t mean that they can never catch it again, it just means that if they catch it again, their body will have the resources to fight the disease quicker and more efficiently.
While the rest of the world went into lockdown in March, the Swedish government simply told its citizens to voluntarily social distance while keeping open all businesses and allowing public gatherings. Some restrictions were placed, but the enforcements of those restrictions are not as harsh as they are in other parts of the world. Because of this, Sweden’s economy didn’t crash like the rest of the world, and their people have been left in better financial situations than people of other countries. The government also advised all immunocompromised people to stay home in order to minimize the risk of them getting the virus.
For the past few months, Swedish people have gone about their lives almost normally. In the beginning, their case numbers were extremely high. However, as time has gone on, the curve has flattened tremendously, especially in the younger population. The Swedish government believes that because of this, they will be barely affected by the time the inevitable second wave of the virus hits.
Other parts of the world have started to adopt aspects of this herd immunity approach. In America, we are starting to open up the states despite our case numbers not improving. Other countries are also doing this. However, because we haven’t been using this approach for as long and because we have established strict guidelines, it might be too late to implement a full herd immunity approach. A study done in Spain has found that as of July, only 3% of their population has been infected with the virus, and scientists think it is likely the same here.
There are some ethical questions called in to play with herd immunity as well. It is argued that it is not morally correct to encourage the spread of the virus, especially since it has been known to kill young, healthy people. Along with this, some believe that it is unfair to expect those who are immunocompromised to not leave their homes until a vaccine is found. The effectiveness of herd immunity has not yet been proven either. It is expected that Sweden will have a lower death rate than other countries in the end because of herd immunity, but since there is not a vaccine yet, it cannot be proven.
Do you think herd immunity is the best approach to the coronavirus? Why or why not?
Do you think herd immunity is unethical?
What situation do you think The United States would be in right now if we had used herd immunity from the beginning?
Works Cited
HospiMedica International. “Sweden's Coronavirus Strategy Targeting Herd Immunity Could Be Adopted Globally, Say Analysts.” Hospimedica.com, HospiMedica International, 14 May 2020, www.hospimedica.com/covid-19/articles/294782383/swedens-coronavirus-strategy-targeting-herd-immunity-could-be-adopted-globally-say-analysts.html.
MD Anderson Cancer Center, and Cynthia DeMarco. “COVID-19 Herd Immunity: 7 Questions, Answered.” MD Anderson Cancer Center, MD Anderson Cancer Center, 17 July 2020, www.mdanderson.org/cancerwise/what-is-covid-19-coronavirus-herd-immunity-when-will-we-achieve-herd-immunity.h00-159383523.html.
Replies
Great topic choice, great summary and great job overall!
I think herd immunity is not the best way to go because the virus adabts and changes every couple months. Even though I beilve that it is ethical i do not think itd be smart or even beneficial. The united states would be in a even worse position if we went with this stategy.
You make a good point about the virus possibly adapting and changing. However, because there is so little information known about this virus, it is very hard to predict if herd immunity would actually work or not.
In my opinion, herd immunity is not a good approach to the coronavirus. Since it has been around, everyone is trying their best to stay safe. I think exposing people to the coronavirus is going against what we have been doing since day one. I also think it is unethical to purposely give people the coronavirus. I would not choose to have the virus put into me, even if the United States wanted to go into herd immunity.
I agree with you in the sense that it is unethical to expose people to the virus. However, herd immunity is not forcing people to get the virus. Everyone would have the choice to stay home. It's would be more of a survival of the fittest situation if we incorporated herd immunity.
I think this is a great approach. However, now that we've already been social distancing I believe we should continue what we're doing now. If we start herd immunity now there will be more deaths in my opinion. Starting this strategy sooner would put us in a different position. We would be where Sweden is. Therefore, we could've had more of our events in school and possibly be mask free.
I also think that it is too late to start using herd immunity as we have already grown accustomed to our strategy for contraining the spread. It might be even more disasterous to start a whole technique now.
I do think that it seems like the best approach but like you siad we might be a little more difficult because of how diverse our populations beliefs are. I think it is perfectly ethical and it makes sence, Yes it killed a lot of people but considering that some people went in for testing just cause we would have had more beds in hospitals. I think that we would be better off like sweden.
I disagree with you. I don't think it is perfectly ethical to allow spreading of a disease that we know very little about. However, the current way we are doing things is also unethical as it is destroying businesses which is hurting millions of people. So, it is really a matter of taking the risk in hopes of a high reward, and I do think that taking the risk of herd immunity will be beneficial in the end.
I do think that herd immunity is the best approach if you do get immunity from Covid 19 once you get it. It hasn't been 100% proven yet. I do think herd immunity is unethical but I think we need to be doing unethical things to be fighting Covid 19. I think if the United States did use heard immunity it we would maybe have more deaths unless we prepared for it with a lot of medication and keep peoples immune systems very high to fight Covid 19 better to keep deaths down.
-
1
-
2
of 2 Next