Im not sure we get to herd immunity ever, but I really dont think it is going to be possible in 2021. Just the combination of 1/4-1/3 of adults turning down the vaccine+no vaccine for kids is enough to prevent herd immunity. Some of that depends on how long natural immunity lasts/how long until we need boosters, but I think we are drawing really thin to get there this year.
I do think most of us can get back (mostly) to normal without herd immunity given the vaccine results. High risk people who cant get vaccinated are sort of perma fucked though.
Job one is anyone with respiratory systems stays home or masks up.
Iām unsure of indoor ventilation improvements make a big difference for flu or not.
And of course nature will then take advantage of our lesser challenge immune systems eventually and kill us all.
Remember, Iām a microbiologist. I sometimes like to look things from the other side. Basically we are the infection and microbial diseases are just another tool of the planet to keep us in check.
Yeah because weāll have no idea which vaccines to give, because normally you base it on what flus are circulating in the other hemisphere, so itās gonna suck.
Thatās a 98 percent decrease from the same window of timeTrusted Source in the 2019-2020 flu season in which 8,633 people were hospitalized with the flu.
I think thereās a lot of variance in any predictions, but certainly the potential for unusually bad flu seasons. Best I could tell from a few articles then issues are a loss of natural immunity because of few infections this year, and, as Jman said, very few samples on which to base vaccine composition.
Yeah completely agree with both of those changes being doable and ventilation improvements are a very good point. I just donāt know if that is a ten percent reduction cs normal flu or a fifty percent reduction vs normal flu because things like remote school and no indoor dining probably not long-term solutions.
I would think we are likely to have a couple of bad flu seasons once we fully reopen, so hopefully some of these cultural changes stick.