crime fighters are back africa's most successful radio drama series continues this season the stories focus on hate speech prevention and sustainable production all of us are available online and of course you can share and discuss on africa's facebook page and other social media platforms. crime fighters tune in well. more. herd immunity could be our best chance of getting back to enjoying ourselves together if enough people have the antibodies for coverage 19 the entire population can be protected but is that an impossible dream can global herd immunity ever be achieved without it with

a pandemic ever be truly over as vaccinations ramp up these are the questions being asked around. the robots in berlin welcome to the doe is covered 19 special now we've been hearing the same herd immunity throughout the pandemic in the early days when some was suggesting we should let infections run riot to achieve it as fast as possible and nowadays with vaccinations making it possible to boost the population's protection in a controlled and the safer way but how does herd immunity actually work let's have a look. what is herd immunity. and many in a herd are immune to a disease the pathogen cannot spread further that's when herd immunity is achieved . why is herd immunity important.

we can use it to protect the weak babies for example they're too young to be vaccinated against some disease it's for people with chronic diseases as well because they can't tolerate vaccinations those with a weak immune system such as after chemotherapy also benefit because herd immunity reduces the risk of getting infected. how many have to be immune and. that varies depending on the disease the important factor is the reproduction rate of a pathogen it indicates the number of people on average that one infected person will pass on a virus to the higher the number the more infectious it is for measles the basic reproduction rate is 15 for covert $1000.00 it's about 3. how is herd immunity calculated. very simply with this formula where it h. is equal to one minus one divided by r.'s 0 for the corona virus that means that the herd immunity age is one minus one divided by 3 which is 2 thirds that means 2

thirds of the population must be a 1000000 to have heard immunity and germany that would be over 50000000 people. what conditions must be met. the prerequisite for herd immunity is that the antibodies we produce an infection need to protect us in the long term with covert 19 it's not yet clear how long someone who has survived the disease will be immune what is certain is that people who have been infected are protected for at least several weeks. let's speak to edwin michael he's an epidemic ologist the university of south florida college of public health thanks for joining us on the call the 19 special you've been modeling timelines for immunity so i suppose the place to start is. is it possible to achieve it and if so when and if you look at the models which are. predictions of you know the fraction of people that we need to demonize to get good

humanity that is a function of you know the competition rate it is a function of the efficacy of the vaccines you know so those 2 will vary between places and if you look at how people are mixing if you look at you know the normal models of e.u. which is the worst case scenario if you assume people are mixing randomly then you can work out what fraction of people might need to be immunized to get herd immunity and that works out far. between 80 to 95 percent. 80 to 90 percent of the people who need to be vaccinated to get her immunity not answer your question we are now above 50 percent 50 just above 50 percent of people who are immune year in the u.s. . it's a combination of acquired immunity as well as vaccine india's immunity so that

means we have to go you know another 30 percent of the people need to get immunized in order to achieve herd immunity can be achieved herd immunity well that's going to depend on people taking up the vaccines and that kick up is slowing and also there's a substantial people who are going to resist getting the vaccine now even just to have and i just say this here there are a we're just talking about the united states can you name it i am and you know ahead of me is he seems like a tangible concept there although that there are a lot of people who still need to be persuaded to get the vaccine to get that but what about for the entire world can it i mean is it realistic to say that you can get there for the entire world. yeah i mean if you look at you know if you look at vaccination rates you know and i don't see huge difference right between countries the top countries would be israel has been no united arab emirates you know and

among the major countries is the u.k. and the united states you know and they are reaching 50 percent of both already and if you look at europe and the european countries in general the other european the e.u. countries is between 20 to 30 percent you know and so there are a long way to go so you know just so the countries that have started vaccinating very early of reach very high levels of immunity already the rest of the country africa's going to be a concern not much is known and you've seen what is happening in india with just below 10 percent of the population being immunized you know and the danger with that is if you release ocean my here is you're going to get the kinds of spikes all the way to the hill seeing in india which is devastating you know that country so you're right there's a long long way to go before globally you're going to achieve herd immunity and

so i think when one gets a little head or nicer if. we're talking about say herd immunity to specific strains of corona virus only talking about in a to 2 to every possible incarnation of the corona virus that's a really good question you know and that is going to depend on the kinds of immune responses which are been in use by the vaccines right now if you look at a vaccine yes the m.r. and the rx in there are you know the immune response you know is induced a spike protein yes but you know that is a whole range of immune response of spike rooted is not just one particular response to those spike protein. so if you got another strain on last that strain you know the mutation the strain is completely novel and completely you know else you have hundreds i could be in you know that is going to reduce the accuracy of the vaccines you know it is the accuracy rates which is going to go up with the

traction of people that we need to immunize now evolutionarily you know getting to that kind of in a brand new straight you know if it's a long shot you know for the wireless as well so we could us right now was initially having could be looking at needing multiple herd immunity is right or there's not actually they are aiming 10 this pandemic with had immunity is that we need herd immunities to the various different variants yeah i mean yes because africa's is world very you know. between strains you know the vaccine or to disease and that's going to dig you know the amount of people that you're going to need to vaccinate but in general you know really even if i can present in a difference in the africans the rates in all of the vaccines against the different strains we're still looking at dad you know that window of you know 80 to 90

percent right of people who need to be vaccinated at or much of the universe to have if because you are right you could get you know globally you want to see the end of this pandemic it's a global phenomenon. but we get there one day hopefully when michael from the university of south florida's college of public health thanks for joining us thank you for value maybe one of the lucky ones who has already been vaccinated against covered 19 if so you may have also asked yourself today's question for our science correspondent very quickly. how long with the vaccines of protection. we don't know yet and even when we do know more there won't be a single answer to this question since about a dozen different vaccines are currently in use around the world and since they're made by different manufacturers and are based on

a range of different platforms they almost certainly won't all protect people for the same periods of time on average what we can say is that the makers of some of the 1st vaccines to enter use widely last december are now reporting back that levels of antibodies have generally remained quite high in recipients which is an indicator that those people are still well protected 6 months after getting their shots those results have researchers hopeful that immune response at least that induced by those that seems will last at least a year and possibly a lot longer but developers aren't leaving it to chance most have already started modifying and testing the next generation of vaccines some of which specifically target variants of concern trials involving

a 3rd booster shot with them are ongoing and don't forget. though there is no sign yet that vaccine induced protection is beginning to wane even if it does that won't happen overnight and even if immunity does start to drop faster than predicted health care authorities would notice it early and a lot of the experts i've read seem to be pretty confident that we'll be able to respond quickly. eric williams there if you got a question for derek you can submit one through our you tube channel we're putting as many see them a many of them to him as we've also become and before we go things are starting to look a little bit more like normal in the spanish capital madrid where the 1st bull fight has been held since the pandemic began seizing was restricted and spectators will face masks as they watched master dogs take on 7 bulls in

a charity event to raise money for out of work both fighters have just taken of the dog and another tradition was also back animal rights protesters outside raising their objections while remaining socially just. not so for me and this covered 19 special if you want more check out our website so next time. terrific kids. the hero of. the weeks extravagant outfits and glitter glitter glitter. they're fighting against prejudice and often called gay boy i think nothing of just getting out and for

breaking. your heart. little scars on the big stage. coach stokes missing teeth kutluk oktay. ready to go to a place places in europe are smashing all the records in a step into a church. just showing. the it's the treasure map. trotters plates go for some of europe's record breaking sites play. the old song in book form. closely. carefully you don't lose 2 feet you going to be

a good. player discover the a. player. play subscribe to a documentary i want to. take i. play. it's world press freedom day and then also we'll be looking at how different people have found ways to tell their stories and make their voices heard despite censorship and oppression. in zimbabwe will meet 2 comedians who are fighting injustice with a surprisingly effective weapon satire. we'll see how director clothes

and the oscar winning film nomad land are being censored in china. and as an antidote to journey to find can place is without ever leaving home in our series 100 german must reads. welcome to the show every year on world press freedom day d w awards its freedom of speech prize this year's recipient is nigerian reporter to bora of warre in 2013 of war a embarked on a courageous and dangerous project she went undercover as a sex worker to investigate human trafficking in nigeria experiencing violence and abuse in the process resulting report shed light on the problems facing young women who are louer to live the forced prostitution in europe report also lead to criminal inquiries and inspired the netflix film or 2 to ray. of war he

will receive the award next month during the w.c. global media forum now let's stay in africa but travel south to zimbabwe where 2 women are taking a different approach to fighting injustice with the economy in crisis and government critics brutally silenced comedians maggie and gone yeti are airing their dissatisfaction through humor their satirical sketches broadcast online are hitting a nerve the pay as you tube videos have racked up thousands of views. this is a parody but it reflects the reality is and. we work through all of them oh my kid you might all know that i'm not for to hold my counsel to me if i go back. many zimbabweans still don't have access to good health care. in their weekly skits maggie and 2 young female comedians talk about the daily issues

affecting their fellow citizens. a lot of women are facing difficulties. delivering their babies who finding mammy lou was one of the flaw so my giving bears in public transport was is this. said the channel bus stop t.v. started as an experiment among friends they posted this get some social media and then they quickly grew in popularity. with vote so. they decided to reproduce these conversations skits and spies by the news and real life experiences. just before the start of the covert $900.00 pandemic they even launched the show in a minibus but you to the pandemic that show had to be halted social issues local

governance national governance service delivery so such issues others that we cover but there are still to boot topics insulting the president for example is punishable by law after the ousting of former president robert mugabe who was in power for 37 years and had hoped for better days but they coming is in ruins and those who criticize authorities are still being silenced. t.v. offers an alternative to the mainstream news and by disguising their messages in humor they try to avoid government censorship. yes just enough but we're going to get your next meal and in the meantime you'll see escape from bus stop and you laugh so bad when you make fun of the situation we're not going to give it lightly but actually telling you things are. like when talking about police violence but what i would like to assure the nation that we did not promote. something that the

team members experienced 1st hand i was i don't think last year i guess last year. after doing as kids. kids we were. we're talking about police brutality that's. pretty much for 3 things where it was it was tough it was something else. he feared for his safety but the reactions of our followers kept her going so my saying you're good at what you're doing truly highlighted the said situation in our beloved country. more tragic than fun thank you buster to hear it again while letting this story while letting this sort of state of our nation through comedy what we're trying to tell is he would like people are watching people are relating saw is good. young team at bus stop t.v.

make people laugh and they give them some form of comic relief they're hoping for change in zimbabwe and as they watch by so many they hope that they too can contribute to this change. so it's our made history as the 1st asian woman and the 2nd woman ever to win the best director oscar but if you was in her native china we're not able to enjoy her triumph the ceremony was censored along with all mentions of sour in the media have film a nomad land which won best picture still hasn't opened there the backlash began in march when beijing discovered an interview the director gave 8 years ago. the world is talking about filmmaker chloe town except china where the director of the oscar winning film nomad land was born the reason is an interview gave him 2013 where she described china as a place where there are lies everywhere she and her film have been censored from

the internet in china so have people in beijing heard of her. money sorry i haven't heard anything. i haven't heard her name very young. this man decides what people in china are allowed to see right after taking office president g. jinping declared that art has the fundamental responsibility to serve socialism he's increasingly been using china's economic might to censor hollywood as well. thanks to the pandemic last year china was the biggest film market in the world with some 2000000000 euros in revenue now or in a situation where offending the chinese government means potentially being shut out on the largest box office in the world and that is an increasing source of pressure on hollywood decision makers to play ball so hollywood has really edited films for

the chinese market like bohemian rhapsody the bio pic of freddie mercury lead singer of the band queen in patrolling his life it addresses his homosexuality including a scene of a kiss which was removed from the chinese release. a scene recreating a famous music video in which mercury dressed in women's clothes was also cut homosexuality is taboo in china. in a report titled made in hollywood censored by beijing james taker analyzes the self-censorship by the us film business. hollywood enjoys this reputation of being an industry that speaks truth to governmental power to see that this sort of free pass that the industry overall is given to beijing to influence their movies is disappointing. china's president knows that if he controls hollywood he also

controls what the rest of us see and what we feel. is hollywood being willing to change content for the global release of the movies not just the version of the movies that show in china so that the chinese communist party censureship dictates actually affect what the entire world watches the chinese posters for nomad land had already been printed before the ban china's propaganda apparatus loves films that are critical of the u.s. not criticism of its own country nomad land is unlikely to ever be shown in china. in other news here's something i bet you haven't seen for a long time thousands of revelers have attended a music festival in the u.k. city of liverpool without mass school social distancing the event at the weekend was part of an experiment to test the safety of not scale gatherings ahead of the country's be opening attendees had to produce

a negative 19 test. u.k. police say they are assessing allegations of sexual harassment by ass get on the same demand that statement follows accusations against actor and director no clock made by more than 25 women bafta has suspended his award for outstanding british contribution to cinema clock is best known for kidulthood adult brotherhood films about bullying and drug abuse among young london is. the pandemic has turned many of us into armchair to ists only able to dream of the adventures we might enjoy if only we could austrian author christoph runs maya has been all over the world for you and he's fictionalized his adventures in a collection of short stories the result atlas of an anxious man is the latest book in our series 100 german must reads.

what if you could travel the whole world see every continent and you wouldn't even have to quit your job abandon friends and family or max out your credit cards well i may have an idea. here's a little tip atlas of an anxious man by austrian author co stuff that i'm smart who take you want to world tour you want to have to leave the house for it's more adventurous than it sounds you'll meet a golf player at the north pole and a welsh birdwatcher drinking whisky on the great wall of china. you'll experience a terrifying drug search on the malaysian border you'll hear an aztec human sacrifice back from the dead playing accordion for spare change 70 very short stories about different places different people different landscapes each poetic tale starts with the words i saw and the sun smiled lets us see with him the

wonders and the horrors of humans and nature and their violent collisions for instance a brazilian anaconda the queen of the wild getting run over by a truck the anaconda was still alive and slithered on words slower now without its former fluid grace and occasionally as though seized by spasms but on words none the less there was no visible wound on its pattern skin but its spine must have been broken this queen would now rain only over the realm of the dead with her broken back whom could she hunt now without once raising its head above the foliage the queen crept silently into oblivion. author coastal crime smiles spent decades traveling to the places he describes in the book his adventures will either make you want to go out and collect some stories of your own are maybe you'll just be

glad you read his instead. you can find more on all the books in this series on our you tube channel books and check out our website about d.w. don't call. the most stories including the latest casualty of the condemning germany's iconic october fest which has been counseled for 2nd year running for more about the arts and culture in berlin. what does it actually mean to be going to pass me myself we travel to the northern reaches embrace and just days before scotland's general election. pledge to the people that think about the time that and how do they feel about being part of the united kingdom. crazy scottish crazy to prevent such

a. 30 minutes. because. one man is heading for the 7th time in one season cutler is my coach of the year for the 2nd time in a row the 2 colleagues st cloud to challenge coaches stare total personal secrets. thank you thank. you. w. . is a master of the art of confrontation this is room full of urban combat does that mean you're going to fly. the undisputed champion of so far with the goal talk trying to frighten people you know there's a fight everybody understands it except you enter the conflict zone and join tim sebastian as he holds the powerful to account this is

a big failure which ever way you like to spin this conflict. it's an ongoing quest if it changes. the power of spring began in 2011. people stood up against corrupt traverse and dictatorship. all these moments. have left deep box in my memory. but mostly because i'm an incredible feeling to be put in work in the pleated. they had hoped for more security more freedom more dignity. of their hopes for

civil. 10 years after the arab spring. rebellion starts june 7th on d w. this is developing news live from the european union are unveils plans to welcome tourists again national vaccination programs are speeding up and that means europe's borders. could reopen in time for the summer holidays also coming up india's agony isn't letting up hospitals make emergency appeals fall off to just as

the health care system crumbles during the world's biggest surge in corona virus infections. and to.