27, August 2021
Covid-19: Has Delta killed the herd immunity dream? 0
As the Delta variant continues its global surge, experts are questioning whether the long-held goal of achieving herd immunity from Covid-19 through vaccination is still viable.
Herd immunity is achieved when a certain threshold of the global population has either been inoculated against a pathogen or has recovered from infection.
But whether or not it is achievable with Covid-19, with the regular emergence of more infectious strains, is up for debate.
“If the question is ‘will vaccination alone allow us to dampen and control the pandemic?’ the answer is: no,” epidemiologist Mircea Sofonea told AFP.
He said herd immunity hinged on two basic factors.
“That’s the intrinsic infectiousness of the virus and the efficacy of vaccines to protect against infection. And at the moment, that efficacy isn’t there.”
Delta has shown to be roughly 60 percent more transmissible than the Alpha variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and up to twice as infectious as the original strain that emerged in late 2019.
The more effective the virus becomes at infecting people, the higher the herd immunity threshold becomes.
“Theoretically, it’s a very simple calculation to make,” said epidemiologist Antoine Flahault.
For the original virus, which had a reproduction rate between zero and three — meaning each infected person infects up to three others — herd immunity could have been achieved with around 66 percent of people immunised, Flahault told AFP.
“But if the reproduction rate is eight, as with Delta, that puts us closer to 90 percent,” he said.
Were vaccines 100 percent effective at stopping Delta infections, that 90 percent could conceivably be possible. Unfortunately, they aren’t.
– Waning immunity? –
According to data published this week by US authorities, the efficacy of the Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines at preventing infection has fallen from 91 percent to 66 percent since Delta became the dominant variant.
And studies have shown that the vaccine efficacy against infection with Delta falls over time — one of the reasons why several countries are now readying for an autumn third shot, or “booster”, vaccination campaign.
With all this taken into account, absent other health measures such as mask-wearing or social distancing, Sofonea said it would take more than 100 percent of people to be vaccinated in order to guarantee transmissions end — an obvious impossibility.
“The Delta variant will still infect people who have been vaccinated and that does mean that anyone who’s still unvaccinated, at some point, will meet the virus,” Andrew Pollard, director of Britain’s Oxford Vaccine Group, told lawmakers this month.
– ‘Mythical’ –
But even if, as Pollard termed it, the “mythical” aim of herd immunity is no longer in play, experts stressed that getting vaccinated remained paramount.
As with vaccines against other, now-endemic diseases such as measles and influenza, the Covid vaccines offer excellent protection against severe illness.
“What scientists are recommending is to get the maximum number of people protected” through vaccination, said Flahault.
Eventually, of course, all pandemics end.
Sofonea said it would still be possible that Covid would become another endemic disease over time, “just not with vaccines alone”.
He envisioned a near future where “masks and social distancing continue in certain regions” in order to limit transmission and, ultimately, severe illness.
“During the AIDS pandemic, when scientists said we needed to wear condoms, lots of people said: ‘OK, we’ll do it for a while’,” said Flahault.
“And in the end they kept on using them. It could well be that we will continue using masks in enclosed spaces and on transport for quite some time.”
Source: AFP
30, August 2021
SOBA UK re-elects president and Executive Team 0
SOBA UK renewed the mandate of its executive bureau today amid preparations for their 2021 Annual Residential Convention.
A member of the newly elected SOBA UK executive team said following the election:
“We are excited to continue with our roles. We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with all SOBANS including the Cameroonian community in the UK particularly those who put extraordinary passion and effort into defending our academic and social heritage. We believe that by working together we can continue to transform SOBA UK into a more organised, powerful force. It is an honour to lead SOBA UK.”
SOBA UK 2021 Executive Elections – Official Confirmation of the Results
Dear Sobans,
On behalf of the patrons, I am pleased to confirm the final results of the members who have been
successfully elected to the executive of SOBA UK for the period from 1st September 2021 to 31st
August 2023;
1) PRESIDENT – FRANKLIN EGBE
2) VICE PRESIDENT – ATEM AKOH-ARREY
3) SECRETARY GENERAL – ASMARA EBAN
4) DEPUTY SECRETARY GENERAL – RALPH MBUA
5) EXECUTIVE TREASURER – BENEDICT TCHANTCHEU
6) FINANCIAL SECRETARY – KOBI AKONG
7) PUBLICITY OFFICER – FRITZ ESAMBI
The detailed results and statistics have been sent to all members who voted by Big Pulse for
Verification and the above results have been confirmed by patrons and elections observers on 26th
August, 2021.
Please join me in wishing these elected members every success in their roles as they seek to move
our association forward.
My gratitude goes to all voters who participated in the elections, 103 members registered to vote out
of 123 registered members (including 8 patrons who do not register to vote). I also want to thank the
Patrons for successfully managing the elections process and collaborating effectively with the
elections system provider, BigPulse.
We are pleased to have used elections observers and greatly appreciate their time and contribution
to the process. We look forward to any feedback that they may have on the process, fairness and
accessibility of voting to members.
Yours faithfully,
Soban Joseph Foncha
Lead Patron (On behalf of all Patrons)