Read on Twitter
Another really intelligent piece from @marcdaalder on what the Covid-19 end point might look like for Ao/NZ. When a sufficient proportion of the population is vaccinated, eliminating every case of covid may not be necessary, as vaccines are /1 https://www.newsroom.co.nz/covid-19-when-elimination-ends
Proving effective at preventing severe disease (even if not completely stopping transmission of infection). Widespread immunisation removes the threat of hospital overwhelm, which has been a key driver of our elimination strategy. Until then, Bloomfield suggests elimination /2
Is key (despite Plan B’s premature erroneous claims that the government Covid-19 strategy has changed). Something that is not addressed in this piece is the concept of population herd immunity, for the protection of those amongst us who are unable to be vaccinated. Children /3
Pregnant and other groups for whom there might be contraindications for vaccination (its not 100% clear on which groups may come under this banner) will rely upon the protection within the immunised community as a whole. Opening the borders will be a tricky decision, as /4
it will need to be balanced against desire to protect unvaccinated groups (eg children are also found to be susceptible to long covid, ONS data) *note Covid-19 impacts on children still being debated /5 https://twitter.com/dr2nisreenalwan/status/1352510371140169728
However, @d_spiegel has reminded us throughout this pandemic that we need to view the risks of Covid-19 in relationship to other risks we accept, and this will be useful to remember as we go forwards. If Covid-19 becomes more “manageable” like seasonal flu thru vaccination /6
We will have done well out of this pandemic
