Get ‘Back On The Bull’ By Getting COVID-19 Vaccine: How Herd Immunity Occurs
Last summer, due to COVID-19, North Carolina was just implementing its Safer-At-Home Order. Several businesses and venues were ordered to remain closed, and in June of last year, masks became mandatory in all public places. This summer, we have vaccines. Thanks to COVID-19 vaccines, safer-at-home orders have been lifted, and masks are no longer required for people who are fully vaccinated. This is incredible news, but it does not mean the pandemic is over. Here’s why it is still critical that you get vaccinated and why the timing of your vaccine matters.
Here in North Carolina, social distancing requirements and mask mandates were lifted for fully vaccinated people on May 14, 2021. So does this mean enough people have been vaccinated by now? Not quite. There’s a reason mask mandates have only been lifted for fully vaccinated people while others are still being encouraged to be vaccinated right away. It all has to do with herd immunity. Herd immunity occurs when enough people in a population have been vaccinated that an illness has almost nowhere else to spread.
For example, if there are 100 people in a community and one person gets sick, with no people in the group vaccinated, the virus can easily pass from one person to the next until everyone becomes ill. With a virus as dangerous as COVID-19, it’s likely some people are left with long-term consequences of this illness, and some will not survive. Now imagine if 30 people in this group are vaccinated; it’s a little harder for the virus to find a place to spread, but it’s still likely that most people in this group get sick. Now imagine if 80 or 90 people in this group (the “herd”) are immune to the illness. The virus has such a hard time finding an unvaccinated person to infect that eventually, the sick person recovers before they have a chance to pass it to anyone else, and the virus is gone from this community. This is how herd immunity works.
You may be thinking, “Who cares if I get vaccinated? I’ll take my chances of getting the virus. The people who are vaccinated have nothing to worry about.” The simple answer is primarily that it’s still important for you to get vaccinated in order to protect others. There are people in our community who cannot be vaccinated, like young children. The more we reduce the presence of the virus in the community, the more we keep others safe when we return to work, school, and activities we love. And the time to get vaccinated is now.
Maybe you’ve been waiting until later to be vaccinated. While you wait, it’s important to remember that a more contagious variant of COVID-19 is now the most common variant in the US. In other words, if you are unvaccinated and exposed to COVID-19, it is more likely that you will become ill than ever before. The vaccine can help protect you from variants. Remember, also, that you are not fully vaccinated until two weeks after your final dose, and two-dose vaccinations require time in between each dose.
Say, for example, you would like to take a flight to attend a family gathering on July 9. In order to be fully vaccinated by then, you’ll need to receive your first dose of the Pfizer vaccine by Friday, June 4; or your first dose of the Moderna vaccine by Friday, May 28; or your one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine by Friday, June 25. And remember, not everything can be planned. In order to be fully vaccinated by the time your favorite cousin comes to town unexpectedly, you’ll need to get vaccinated as soon as possible!
In other words, don’t wait. You never know when you’ll need to be fully vaccinated to protect yourself and others. And we need everyone in the community who can be vaccinated to get vaccinated in order to truly stop the spread and get our lives back to normal. It’s easier than ever to get your shot.
Visit the Durham County Department of Public at 414 E. Main Street., Durham, NC 27701 to get vaccinated Monday-Friday, no appointment needed. Moderna, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are offered. Learn more at dcopublichealth.org/vaccineappointments. If you can’t make it to the health department, visit our website at dcopublichealth.org/vaccineevents to see when they will be in the community doing vaccinations at a location near you. You can also check their website at dcopublichealth.org/covidvaccinelocations to find other places to take your shot. Thank you all for doing your part to bring summer back!