S1E66 / Brazil’s P.1 Variant — the Limits of Natural Herd Immunity / Felipe Naveca & Ester Sabino

EPIDEMIC with Dr. Celine Gounder

"This is an invisible war and if we don't use our weapons we are not going to win it." -Ester Sabino

In the fall of 2020, the Brazilian city of Manaus had the highest SARS CoV-2 infection rate in the world — possibly as high as 75 percent. Some speculated that with rates of infection this high, there would not be enough people left for the virus to infect. Had the city reached so-called natural herd immunity? For a few months cases started to drop but this winter things got worse than ever. We’ll hear what caused this devastating second wave in Manaus, why herd immunity from natural infection wasn’t protective, and why — even with vaccines — we can’t let our guard down.

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