Culling the Herd?



Lead story in this morning's New York Times. Reaching 'Herd Immunity' is Unlikely in the U.S. 

Yes, you can lead a horse to Pfizer but...

Early in the pandemic, when vaccines for the coronavirus were still just a glimmer on the horizon, the term “herd immunity” came to signify the endgame: the point when enough Americans would be protected from the virus so we could be rid of the pathogen and reclaim our lives.

Now, more than half of adults in the United States have been inoculated with at least one dose of a vaccine. But daily vaccination rates are slipping, and there is widespread consensus among scientists and public health experts that the herd immunity threshold is not attainable — at least not in the foreseeable future, and perhaps not ever.

Instead, they are coming to the conclusion that rather than making a long-promised exit, the virus will most likely become a manageable threat that will continue to circulate in the United States for years to come, still causing hospitalizations and deaths but in much smaller numbers.

In effect, Covid-19, in one or more of its variants, will become our new normal. It will become a manageable threat. 

University of Alberta professor Michael Haughton said this many months ago. Haughton, a Brit, was awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine along with two others for their work in identifying and developing vaccines for Hepatitis B and C. The guy knows his stuff.

Haughton said the coronavirus is more like influenza than some other, "One and Done" viruses. It will evolve into variants that will require new vaccines and likely annual vaccinations. Every year the medical wizards try to identify what version of influenza will dominate and what flu vaccine is required. They don't always get it right.

As for the anti-vaxxers and the vaccine hesitants, maybe this is a problem that will sort itself out. Maybe they'll cull themselves. Who knows?

The United States is struggling to overcome what appears to be a growing vaccine hesitancy problem that seems to be worst in the poorest counties with the highest rates of comorbidity. That's completely counterintuitive. An analysis by ProPublica that vaccination rates are highest for counties that are healthy, wealthy and wise. 

Comments

  1. Northern PoVMay 4, 2021 at 6:58 AM

    Obviously Trudeau's fault! :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Disaffected LibMay 4, 2021 at 7:53 AM

      If you read my previous post you would know those I fault for this sort of fact-free, belief- or faith-based thought and the consequences that flow from it.

      Delete
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