With Phase 3 vaccine candidates approaching closer to U.S. authorization dates, health and industry leaders are consumed with the necessity of having as many of our population willing to be vaccinated. Besides protecting themselves from the Covid-19 virus, these Americans would also be helping to establish our country’s effective herd immunity level.
According to a recent Washington Post (WP) article, “Herd immunity occurs when enough people become immune to a disease that the virus is unable to transmit to new hosts (uninfected people), which slows its spread.”
The newspaper explains that the two main ways to obtain this immunity are through antibodies being established after getting the disease (protecting patients against future encounters with this virus) and through vaccinations. The certain percent of our population that needs this herd immunity is called the herd immunity threshold. It is unknown at the present time, but some scientists have narrowed this threshold to 40-70% of our population. Other experts believe the threshold percentage should be as high as 70-90%. Depending on how effective the vaccines are, many researchers estimate that at least half of the U.S. will need to get vaccinated to help provide the herd immunity.
Wall Street Journal (WSJ) informs us that many Americans, including those who are in the high risk category, are skeptical or opposed to taking a vaccine. In a recent poll, the Washington Post discovered that less than 50% of adults said they would DEFINITELY get a CoVid-19 vaccine. Among black adults the number was only 32%, despite the fact that communities of color have been hit extremely high with corona virus cases. The Post newspaper stated “Overall, 70% of white adults and 78% of Hispanics said they were LIKELY to get the CoVid-19 vaccine when available while only 63% of black adults said the same.”
Why are these percentages so low?
1. Many have concerns about safety because of the unprecedented shortened time being used in the vaccine’s development which is further emphasized by the government’s title for these programs of “Operation Warp Speed.”
2. There are small but vocal numbers who are opposed to ALL vaccines, despite research proving otherwise.
3. A large group are willing to wait for a particular chosen vaccine (or vaccines) that has broad support from doctors.
4 There are large under-served communities with inadequate health care plans for vaccinating.
To tackle these doubts, WSJ explains that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is planning to launch a November public-awareness campaign across TV, radio, and social media. This campaign will focus on vaccine safety, effectiveness, and populous hesitancy. Intervention efforts and transparency in vaccine safety communication will need to emphasize our country’s critical need to return to normalcy in its economy and work force / physical and mental health / and social life. Logistic challenges alone for 328 million people will be extraordinary for governments and private sectors. Last year, the World Health Organization (WHO) named vaccine hesitancy as “one of the top threats to global health.” Let’s begin now, consciously, to meet this overwhelming hurdle. We must not fail!
