Ukraine reaches group immunity
As reported by ORF, 44 to 60 percent of the population in Ukraine (as of January) already have antibodies against the Corona virus. This was the result of a study of 140,000 antibody tests. In July of the previous year, the value was still at nine percent, in October already at 33 percent. Ukraine may thus have already reached herd immunity.
By Bernadette Conrads
Corona measures are not nearly as strict in Ukraine as they are in Austria. Restaurants there, for example, are still allowed to stay open from seven a.m. to 11 p.m. daily. At the same time, the Ukrainian health care system is anything but leading. Nevertheless, the Corona virus apparently passed through the country without causing mass deaths.
The goal of herd immunity
Interestingly, the strategies of governments - as far as is known - are aimed at achieving so-called herd immunity. Once it is achieved, our health care system is no longer in danger, so the theory goes. Broad immunity in the population can be achieved, on the one hand, by having survived coronavirus infections and, on the other hand, by vaccination. Problem: However, it has not yet been conclusively determined whether longer-term immunity is provided by getting through a coronavirus infection. But it is equally unclear how strong the protection provided by vaccination is.
Immunologist: 50-70% infections required
Speaking to ORF, immunologist Ursula Wiedermann-Schmidt from MedUni Vienna provided information back in March 2020 on the percentage at which such herd immunity could be achieved with the coronavirus: "Here, in order for this herd protection to be established in the population, around 50 to 70 percent of the population would have to go through the disease in order for natural immunity to develop in the population." At that percentage, the coronavirus would stop spreading.
Can Ukraine save on the vaccine?
The Ukrainian healthcare system suffers from the country's poor economic situation and cannot be compared with Western European standards. Vaccine procurement is slow. 1.9 million doses have been requested from China, but the war-torn country refuses the Russian vaccine. Herd immunity cannot be achieved in this way, the ARD Tagesschau recently warned. But it turns out that Ukraine has already achieved herd immunity or - assuming a higher, necessary immunity rate - is on the verge of doing so. In this respect, Ukraine does not have to worry about the vaccine.
Ukraine survived coronavirus without mass deaths
The coronavirus apparently moved through the country without major incident. 23,000 deaths were statistically attributed to the coronavirus. With 41.5 million Ukrainians, this results in a corona death rate of about 0.06%. In comparison, in Austria, with a population of 8.8 million and 8,000 official deaths, 0.09% died, more than in Ukraine. Despite the poor health care system, Ukrainians seem to have weathered the corona virus pretty much without major incident.
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