Immunologist Jasenko Karamehic is encouraged and pleased by the current epidemiological situation, but at the same time, he warns that only active immunization and coverage of more than 70 percent of the population can lead to collective immunity and the end of the coronavirus pandemic.
In the case of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), that means more than four million doses of vaccines, so that the population can be vaccinated in the shortest possible time, as he said.
”This is the so-called active homogeneous vaccination, which means that on average about 70 percent of the population should be vaccinated as soon as possible to achieve collective immunity. For BiH, it could possibly mean a higher percentage, considering the difficult epidemiological situation we had and the number of deaths from the coronavirus, ”emphasized Karamehic.
He is content with the reduced number of people infected with the coronavirus, but he also states that it could be short-term. He is concerned about the number of deaths from the effects of the coronavirus, which he says is still high in BiH. According to him, BiH is among the leading countries in Europe in terms of the number of deceased.
”When will collective immunity be achieved. The vaccines are given in two doses, that is, two to three months. More time should then pass until collective immunity is created. It is already autumn or the end of the calendar year. It means that we are entering the next year with the pandemic, which is not good for our entire society, ” he pointed out.
According to Karamehic, the currently improved epidemiological situation was achieved by conscientious respect of epidemiological measures, the fact that a significant number of people in BiH had the corona, and some of them have the so-called spontaneous immunity.
”However, don’t let that fool us and we shouldn’t pay much attention to it since we don’t have collective immunity. The most important thing is immunization while respecting the epidemiological measures that have an effect, ” as he told.
As Karamehic thinks, the longer the pandemic lasts, without active immunization, the greater the fear of the emergence of new virus strains.
”The virus does not wait, it adapts to measures and vaccines. The virus also wants to survive, mutate, change. Fear can appear, there should be a fear of increasing infections. Only active immunization can prevent it. Nothing else will have effects, ” as he stressed.
Karamehic previously recommended that a vaccine should be procured for BiH, which is from the same region or continent because it is mostly tested on the population of that continent and those countries. He praised the world’s health workers at the time and considered it a fantastic success to make a vaccine in six to eight months, which normally takes ten years or more.
E.Dz.
