This is how co-immunity works!
Very simple: Immune people cannot infect themselves or others. While herd and group immunity are being talked about elsewhere, immunity donations could help slow the spread of Sars-CoV-2
Spread of Sars-CoV-2
Your immunity protects other people from infection and slows down the spread of the disease.
Health care system
Fewer cases automatically imply better care for the infected persons.
Economy
The earlier the crisis will be overcome the sooner the economy will recover.
Co' derives from companion
You can create co-immunity with your antibodies
Many scientists believe that your Sars-CoV-2 antibodies are capable of protecting others from an infection. As soon as enough people are immune against an infection the curve will flatten continuously and spreading will stop. At least theoretically, it doesn't matter wether these antibodies were created by a Covid-19 illness or derive from an immunity donation.
In some countries, building on the fact that parts of the population would become immune due to high infection rates was considered as herd immunity or group immunity. Fortunately, most governments have moved away from these considerations.
The idea of immunity is appealing nonetheless. In theory, many parts of the population could be immunized by many immunity donations, at least for a certain time.The effect on the spreading of th disease could be so strong that some of the current restrictions could be relaxed.
If one donates immunity to the other, then many of us can be protected. Perhaps so many that we can shorten these hard times. This is what we call passive immunity.
Frequently asked questions
What does co-immunity stand for?
The Co stands for Community, Companion and Corona. The term co-immunity embodies the principle of helping people with the means of the community.
Is co-immunity the same as herd immunity or group immunity?
No. With herd immunity, the approach is that simply 60-70% of the population become infected and the increasing immunity slows the spread of the virus. In group immunity, this principle is applied to supposedly particularly few vulnerable groups. This is intended to protect the risk groups.
Co-immunity is about immunizing parts of the population with antibodies so that the spread is slowed down. However, this approach depends on the fact that a large number of immunity donors are available and that the donations are optimally processed and administered in a coordinated manner. Since protection is only temporary, it can only be used to bridge a short period of time until a vaccine is available nationwide.
Isn't co-immunity more of a theoretical model?
Yes. This has never been done in practice. The idea behind this is to show the powerful potential behind a community-based therapy with antibodies.
In parts, however, the model is not entirely impossible. If all patients are cared for and all risk groups are immunized, one can of course theoretically continue to immunize other population groups. However, it is questionable whether this will succeed with the current epidemic. The feasibility also depends on how long passive immunization actually protects. There are as yet no data on this.