Many countries have turned to vaccines to address the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. However, a number of scientists have proposed the use of “self-spreading vaccines” that transmit immunity instead of sickness. While the concept itself has not been implemented in real life, it is not entirely without risk.
The concept first emerged in a 2018 Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health report. According to the report by the institution’s Center for Health Security (CHS), self-spreading vaccines “could dramatically increase coverage” in human populations without the need for inoculating persons one at a time. The report’s authors elaborated: “Only a small number of vaccinated individuals would be required to confer protection to larger susceptible population, thus eliminating the need for mass vaccination operations.” Continue reading “Scientists now plotting the use of “self-spreading” vaccines to inoculate more people”