Vaccination is critical, but it will not alone unlock our freedom – Sydney Morning Herald

High vaccination rates, combined with some curbs on our behaviour, provide our best chance to ease the worst aspects of this pandemic. But it is crucial that Australians understand that, despite much-vaunted vaccination take-up freedom thresholds, we will only know the actual number when the day arrives. In the meantime, we must aim for the highest possible vaccination rates including among very young children and start taking this lockdown more seriously.

Vaccination rates must be maximised before we can consider significant relaxation of restrictions.Credit:AP

This American summer provides a real-time cautionary tale that should prompt us not to get ahead of ourselves. Despite having only 50 per cent of the population fully vaccinated against the SARS-COV-2 virus, related restrictions were eased prematurely in the United States. On Cape Cod, hundreds crowded into the popular holiday area and the virus had a field day. Most alarmingly, 74 per cent of the infections occurred in fully vaccinated individuals. Most experienced only minor symptoms and significantly none died. But those infected were carrying very high viral loads and were, of course, infectious.

We have known for many months that vaccination does not stop one from carrying viruses in ones respiratory secretions but this event finally persuaded the American Centres for Disease Control and Prevention to call for the vaccinated to wear masks when indoors and to maintain social distancing.

You may have followed the negative reaction from many that followed. Just when they thought vaccination would provide freedom from the scourge of COVID, they were once again told to wear masks and practise social distancing. Incredibly, some governors decided this was intolerable and actually banned mandatory mask-wearing.

We immunologists expected this situation. While the vaccines we use do reduce the carriage of virus in our respiratory secretions by, on average, 50 per cent, none produce what is called sterilising immunity, a state where the immune system will not allow viruses to reside in those secretions.

Scott Morrison at Wednesdays announcement of the Doherty Institute modelling for vaccination rates. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

We have a purpose-evolved mucosal immune system with special skills to protect our inner skin, the mucous membranes that line noses, throats and intestines. This system is poorly activated by vaccines injected into the body. Hence, injected vaccines only effectively protect our vital internal organs, and thankfully they do that very well. Dozens of laboratories are hard at work trying to produce vaccines that can be administered by nasal sprays or taking a tablet.

At the moment Australians are studying the governments four-stage plan to end our COVID suffering. Enormous emphasis is being given to some definitive figure for vaccination uptake that, on arrival, will set us free. Various models suggest 70-90 per cent vaccination rates will be required. The truth is that we will only know the true figure when the smouldering embers of the pandemic can readily be dowsed by our contact tracers for the few cases we will encounter.

That figure is certainly a very high one. My point in discussing the carrier status of the vaccinated is to make it clear that for much of 2022 even with the majority of us vaccinated mask-wearing and social distancing will still be required by all us to avoid lockdowns and to protect the unvaccinated. Surely Australians would not accept the appalling proposition that we and our government have no duty of care to those who refuse vaccination.

View post:

Vaccination is critical, but it will not alone unlock our freedom - Sydney Morning Herald