A Tory health minister partially responsible for the government’s response to the
Coronavirus epidemic has falsely claimed “there is no such thing as herd immunity”.
Nadine Dorries also said evidence for her statement lies in the fact that “measles and chicken pox” have not been wiped out.
Both statements are false.If herd immunity existed, measles and chicken pox would have been wiped out years ago. There is no such thing as herd immunity. https://t.co/THC1DC1mJa— Nadine Dorries 🇬🇧#StayAlert (@NadineDorries) October 13, 2020Herd immunity does not require the absolute eradication of a disease but occurs when a large enough percentage of a population becomes immune so that it doesn’t spread exponentially.
For instance, if 80% of a population have immunity to a virus, four out of every five people who come into contact with someone with the virus will not get sick and further spread the disease.
Herd immunity is achieved either through vaccination or exposing enough of a population to the virus in question. It is supported by decades of scientific research.
Secondly, new cases of measles and chicken pox still occur because people are not born with immunity to them, thus the disease is impossible to eradicate entirely but prevalence diminishes gradually over time.Nadine, actual doctor here 👋Measles needs to have a vaccination uptake of 93% or greater for the possibility of herd immunity to kick in, and we've never been close.Also, fun fact: measles vaccinations have saved over 21 million lives worldwide in the last 20 years.— Dr Meenal Viz (@meenalsworld) October 13, 2020Dorries was roundly slammed on
Social Media with many expressing disbelief that a health minister could get something so wrong.If I was a Minister of State assigned a health portfolio, I would simply learn the first damn thing about the subject before tweeting. https://t.co/JqpCXXDZ0H— Andrew Mueller (@andrew_mueller) October 14, 2020OMG.... @MattHancock@NadineDorries now deny herd immunity exists despite it being initial policy of their Govt scientists in March, despite thousands nest medical experts across globe. Staggering. It’s about reducing spread, reducing reinfection, not eradication. https://t.co/MA3kRCxFtt— Richard Tice (@TiceRichard) October 14, 2020this would be an excellent point if – and it's a tiny detail – there weren't new, small humans with no immunity being produced constantly https://t.co/gKKXVEs1kc— Tom Chivers (@TomChivers) October 14, 2020Dorries is also a former nurse and tested positive for coronavirus in March.
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