WRONG DIRECTION

Number of People With COVID-19 Antibodies Is Falling Rapidly, British Study Shows

The major new work suggests herd immunity to the coronavirus is not only risky, but may not even be achievable.

Remember when, just a few weeks ago, the White House embraced the idea of “herd immunity” to resolve the coronavirus pandemic? Well, according to a major new British study, the proportion of England’s population with COVID-19 antibodies that form an immune defense is actually falling sharply, not rising, and leaving more people open to a second infection by the highly contagious virus. The number of people testing positive for COVID-19 antibodies tumbled by 26 percent between June and September in England, an Imperial College London team found. According to BBC News, in the first round of testing, at the end of June and the beginning of July, around 60 in 1,000 people had detectable antibodies. In September, only 44 per 1,000 people were positive. Graham Cooke, co-author of the report, said: “As a whole, these data suggest the possibility that decreasing population immunity will lead to an increased risk of reinfection as detectable antibodies decline in the population.”