Covid and Delta variant, Crisanti: “Herd immunity will never be achieved”

The problems to be addressed this winter “are three and concern the percentage of vaccinated, the duration of vaccination and the presence of variants resistant to the vaccine. Everything will depend on the measures that we will be able to put in place to face the situation. Some may still be implemented, others a little less “. Andrea Crisanti, director of the Microbiology department of the University of Padua, says this, commenting on the pandemic situation of recent days to iNews24.it. The first problem could be faced “with herd immunity which however – warns Crisanti – will never be achieved. It is impossible, given that we are facing a variant that has an R0 of 6. As regards the duration of the vaccination, we have a provision is made for the study by Israel which says that protection lasts 8-9 months. We will therefore have to think about how to protect all vulnerable people and those who have been vaccinated in January 2021 “. The third dose “is absolutely an option but I still do not pronounce on it, because I want to wait for the results of Israel”. Then, speaking of the vaccination of young people under 18, he underlines: “The more people get vaccinated, the better. As far as children are concerned, the cost-benefit ratio is very limited, but nevertheless they do well to get vaccinated to make a contribution to the level. and perform an act of generosity towards the community “. Crisanti then comments on the data on the infections of Ferragosto. “What is happening is quite simple: the contact tools are insufficient, so the virus is spreading – says the virologist – If we are in this situation it is because we have failed to manage the pandemic and with us there are many other European countries and also the USA “. “The pandemic management strategy – he says – was wrong from the beginning, so it is clear that even today we are in the running. We still carry with us the mistakes we made from last summer, but also from autumn or winter. no action was taken to block the spread of the virus. The lockdowns – says the expert – were wasted. They were meant to buy time and in the meantime find a way to manage the situation, but then it was not done nothing. It would have been appropriate to give a ‘free all’ this summer only after having implemented a series of other measures “. Regarding a cure, Crisanti then explains that “there are interesting enzymes such as proteases, which have already been used as targets for very effective drugs, as in the case of hepatitis C and HIV. These enzymes have proved to be ideal targets. , so I am moderately optimistic about the effectiveness of a cure “for Covid -19. “As for the date – he adds – I don’t know if the deadline indicated for next summer will be respected”.