Although more than half of all adults in the United States have been vaccinated, the spread of new strains and vaccine skepticism has alienated the target of public immunity.
When the Covid-19 pandemic first broke out, the vaccine was still just a ray of light at the end of the tunnel. The term “community immunity” is to denote the end of the epidemic. Community immunity means that when enough Americans are protected from the virus, the pathogen is eliminated, New York Times said. Today, more than half of all adults in the United States receive at least one dose of the vaccine. But vaccination rates are declining, and there is consensus among scientists and public health experts that public immunity cannot be achieved, at least in the near future, and perhaps never. hours. They came to the conclusion that the virus could become a controllable threat that will continue to spread in the US for many years to come. It still causes flare-ups with hospitalizations and deaths, but on a smaller scale. Depends on the strain’s ability of the virus How much smaller future outbreaks will be and the number of cases and deaths is uncertain. It depends on how many countries in the world are vaccinated, and more importantly, how the virus evolved. Viruses are evolving too quickly. The new strains spread very quickly. Meanwhile, the immunization speed is too slow. That makes the expectation of community immunity even more distant. The United States is one of the countries with the highest rates of Covid-19 vaccination in the world. Photo: New York Times. Experts believe that vaccinating high-risk groups will be crucial to limit the size of new outbreaks. “The virus is unlikely to go away, but we are doing all we can to see if it is likely to cause only mild infections,” said Rustom Antia, an evolutionary biologist at Emory University in Atlanta, USA. said. To date, experts still cannot be sure what percentage of the population has anti-Covid-19 antibodies. Even for people with antibodies, experts cannot be sure of their immunity to new strains. Dr Anthony S. Fauci, the leading adviser to the Joe Biden administration on Covid-19, admits the change in thinking among experts. “We stopped using the term community immunity. I said, vaccinate a sufficient number of people, the level of infection will drop,” he said. Why is community immunity difficult to achieve When the corona virus begins to spread globally in early 2020, many experts believe that public immunity is the key to escaping the pandemic. That is when enough people have acquired immunity, including through natural infection or vaccination, when the virus will run out of people to infect and go away on its own. 30% of the US population is reluctant to get the Covid-19 vaccine. Photo: New York Times. The concept of public immunity has become a tacit target in many countries, including the United States. Initially, the threshold for achieving public immunity is 60-70% of the infected population. Most experts, including Dr. Fauci, believe that the United States can achieve public immunity before vaccines become available. But when the vaccine started to be distributed, this threshold estimate began to increase. Initial estimates were made based on the spread of the original virus. Variant B.117 – first discovered in the UK – was up to 60% more infectious than the original strain. Experts estimate the new threshold to 80%. If new strains continue to grow and spread, or if scientists find vaccinated people can still transmit the virus, the threshold calculation may need to be revised again. In addition, recent polls show that about 30% of the US population is afraid to be vaccinated. “Theoretically we could get an immunization rate of 90% of the population, but in reality it’s very difficult,” said Marc Lipsitch, an epidemiologist at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. While vaccination resistance is the main reason why the United States cannot achieve public immunity, it is not the main reason. Community immunity is often seen as a national target, but it’s a vague concept in a country as large as the United States. On a global scale, this possibility becomes even more distant. Immunization is still the key Dr. David M. Morens, senior advisor to Dr. Fauci, said community immunity can vary with population size, human behavior and many other factors. A small outbreak in a low vaccination area could spill over and hit an area where the majority of the population was vaccinated. Immunization remains the key to dealing with the epidemic. Photo: New York Times. At the same time, the connections between the countries of the world, especially when the travel restriction is reduced, underscores the urgency of protection, not only for Americans but for other countries as well. Any new strain of Covid-19 that arises in the world will eventually come to America. At that time, the vaccination rate is the decisive factor for the protection level of the community with the new strains. Many parts of the world lag far behind the United States in immunization. Less than 2% of Indians are vaccinated and less than 1% in South Africa, according to data New York Times . “We will not achieve public immunity as nations, states, even cities, until we have immunity in all populations,” Lauren Ancel Says Meyers, director of the Covid Modeling Organization, University of Texas. By focusing on vaccinating the most at-risk groups, the US has reduced its mortality rate compared to before. If vaccination rates continue to increase over time, the corona virus may become seasonal, similar to the flu. The biggest challenge facing health professionals is convincing people to vaccinate. Many Americans remain skeptical of the vaccine’s effectiveness. Another group lacked access to vaccines, such as homeless people, migrant workers, or certain communities of color. That makes the goal of achieving community immunity even more difficult. The mentality of the vast majority of people is that they want to see someone else embrace something, before they’re willing to try it. Emphasizing the benefits of vaccination may become more effective than the fictional idea of herd immunity. “That will resonate with people more than the elusive concept that experts are still trying to come up with,” said Mary Politi, a specialist in health and health communication, University of Washington. Experts also recommend increasing vaccination rates for children, even babies. Because over time, if there aren’t enough people vaccinated, new strains can develop and disrupt the vaccine’s ability to protect itself.
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