A New Understanding of Herd Immunity

theatlantic.com

16 pointstimmytokyo3 comments

> Models like Britton’s and Gomes’s also assume that, after infection, people obtain immunity.

There is growing evidence that people can catch covid more than once, even within a short time after clearing the first infection. While not 100% proven yet, if true it would basically throw herd immunity out the window until there is an effective vaccine. https://www.vox.com/2020/7/12/21321653/getting-covid-19-twic....

> But Britton noted that there are no clear instances of double infections so far, which suggests that this virus creates immunity for at least some meaningful length of time, as most viruses do.

A paragraph below in the article.

I linked a clear instance of exactly that, an article written this week by a doctor whose patient contracted the virus twice in a short period, with references to other examples. Further, the claim that most viruses create immunity for a meaningful length of time is questionable.

> repeat infections in a short period are a feature of many viruses, including other coronaviruses

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