Covid herd immunity not an option for India, says centre

Even with India battling the Covid pandemic through different measures, cases are on a rise since past three months. On Thursday, the central health ministry stated that herd immunity is not an option for a country like India to stop Coronavirus. This is mainly because the population is extremely high.

Herd immunity means indirect protection from a disease. It happens when a large number of the population becomes immune to an infection. It happens when a vaccine is developed or when a huge population has recovered from the disease. According to the central government, India is fully going to rely on a vaccine to battle the virus. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization had said that a Covid vaccine is unlikely until early 2021.

India has already crossed 15 lakh Covid cases. Maharashtra, Delhi, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat are some of the worst affected states. Kerala, which had managed to flatten the Covid curve, is now witnessing a drastic rise in number of cases since past one week which is a cause for worry. India is the third worst affected nation in the world due to spread of the virus.