The race is not always to the swift, nor are the strongest inevitably winners. North America is not a top-down administration. We prefer to consider advice carefully, and then decide on our course of action ourselves. Our fierce independence has seen us overcome many threats. However, this time Dr. Anthony Fauci is warning we are chasing a moving herd immunity target.
Why Is the Herd Immunity Target Suddenly Shifting?
A year ago the coronavirus was a consistent strain. There was one type of bug, and theoretically one vaccine was all we needed to knock it on the head. Scientists told us if 70% of us had the vaccination that would be sufficient. And so we obediently waited for our technologies to make one. Right now, we have three, maybe four vaccines available, so what’s the problem?
The basics are still the same. Except now we need between 70% and 85% of the people to have the shot, to be confident. That’s because new strains of the coronavirus have developed. It’s like a fresh runner entered the race, or the enemy has a new weapon that’s more difficult to counter.
That’s Why We Are Chasing a Moving Herd Immunity Target
‘We don’t know what the durability of the infection-induced immunity is,’ Dr. Fauci told CNBC on April 26, 2021. ‘We don’t know if someone who got infected last winter, or in the early part of 2020 is going to be safe from a protected standpoint now.’ And we still have no certainty how long the vaccine protection will last.
But what we do know is we have to slow the spread as much as we can. That’s because every new infection holds the potential, however slight to spawn a new mutation. And that mutation could have additional strengths that could be harder to knock on the head.
The moving herd immunity we are chasing means having as many people as possible protected by vaccines. We should not begin to relax until we reach that life-saving goal. Lest the virus sprints ahead of us again.
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Preview Image: The Tortoise and the Hare
