Kyrgyzstan to conduct study to assess herd immunity to SARS CoV-2 virus

Bishkek, June 25, 2021. / Kabar /. Kyrgyzstan plans to conduct an assessment of population immunity to the SARS CoV-2 virus in the country's population in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Director of the Scientific and Production Association "Preventive Medicine", academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, professor Omor Kasymov told at a press conference that specialists from Russia arrived to conduct this study.

“The population study will take place in Bishkek, Osh and regions. The total number of volunteers will be 10 thousand 752 people. Persons on inpatient or outpatient treatment with COVID-19 are excluded,” he said.

In turn, director of the St. Petersburg Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology named after Pasteur, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Areg Totolyan said that the study is being implemented within the framework of the interstate programs of the Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Welfare under the protocol of population age-stratified sero-epidemiological study of coronavirus infection COVID-19 recommended by WHO.

“A similar study to assess collective immunity to coronavirus is being conducted throughout Russia throughout the year. Also, in May-April, such a study was carried out in Belarus and there are already the first results. In Kyrgyzstan, the study will start next week. Research is a very important component of the fight against COVID-19 infection in modern conditions, because without knowledge and information about herd immunity, it is impossible to cope with a pandemic.

He noted that the goal of humanity is to achieve an appropriate collective protective level of immunity. “It is achieved in two ways - this is the natural way, that is, disease and the acquisition of post-infectious immunity, and the second way through vaccination. If we had the Middle Ages, we would only go the first way. But in the modern world, it is impossible and wrong to fight infections without active vaccination. Therefore, both components are important,” Totolyan said.