Community transmission, herd immunity

As an individual, a doctor has a right to her own opinion but as a World Health Organisation official, it may not have been appropriate for a few reasons. At the stage of community transmission, where asymptomatic carriers which means those who exhibit no telltale or physical signs of any ailment are presumed to spread the virus exponentially thus putting a significant part of the population at risk, nature is believed to intervene by upgrading genetic resistance after a process of genetic profiling and mutation to select those qualified as recipients of this protection and this is called “Herd immunity”.

This is a real scenario but the drawback is that nature, in its own wisdom, will choose and there’s no luxury of choice, chance and time and there are no checks and balances, it is akin to a blind choice.

Concerning the state of the world now, it’s a preposterous suggestion to give up the chase and that’s not an appropriate choice as we must ramp up testing and expedite research on a cure or a vaccine except we want to engage in “Russian roulette”.

The doctor from WHO should have made an ethical distinction between a personal opinion and an official vibe because that scenario should be the last resort. Some things are better left unsaid or at best, left in the realm of conjecture to control the sentiment of the mob that could go awry and the attendant chaos that will follow.

Gbenga Abidoye

[email protected]

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