The US recently announced that according to the records each state has kept, 100 million individuals are now totally vaccinated. That’s impressive, but there’s even better news: over 147 million have received at least one dose of the vaccine so far.
However, there are more than 330 million people in the United States, according to the last census. That means many adults have not gotten one of the vaccines yet. Many of those that have not gotten one state they have no intention of doing so, either.
Let’s go over what the numbers mean and what the future looks like for this country.
Trusting the Experts
Jimmy Kimmel recently aired a segment on his show that featured several doctors. These individuals talked about how all of them went to medical school for many years. They mentioned facts about the human body to back up the assertion that they knew about things like the human anatomy, diseases, and so forth.
They then went on to say that people should trust them rather than some anti-vaxxer that’s part of a Facebook group. The show played the segment for humor, but the doctors were serious about what they said.
The fact is, everyone can make their own choices and do their own research. You can look online to find yourself a great disability lawyer before you file a claim, or you can look at landscapers in your area if you want someone to weed and mulch your garden. You can pick and choose what information to believe that you read online and that people tell you, or you can completely scoff at what they say.
The problem with trusting individuals in Facebook groups or on other social media platforms is that they are echo chambers. If you go to these groups for information, but you’ve already made up your mind about whether vaccines are worthwhile or safe, you’re only going to find confirmation of those beliefs because of where you chose to go.
By contrast, if you go somewhere like the CDC website, you’ll find information about vaccine chemical composition or anything else that you’d like to know. There are nearly infinite online sources, but it’s entirely up to you which ones you trust.
The Anti-Science Mindset
Some Americans, and indeed, many individuals around the world, have strong anti-intellectualist leanings. It has always been that way. It’s nothing new for there to be people who don’t trust science, even when it leads to medical or technological advancements that they enjoy and which enrich their lives.
The doctors that appeared on Jimmy Kimmel’s show made the point that they’ve eradicated polio. Very few people complain about getting a polio vaccine, except for a few virulent anti-vaxxers who don’t want to administer one to their kids. However, the Covid-19 vaccine seems different, and the reason is that certain individuals have politicized this issue so much.
If you go on some news networks, you’ll see the talking heads working hard to convince the general public not to trust the vaccine or to question what’s in it. These were the same individuals who didn’t want any businesses to shut down. Now, when multiple vaccines are available for people to take, which will speed up everything reopening and returning to normal, these same people encourage their watchers not to do it.
What’s Going to Happen Now?
It could be that some of the politicians who are trying to convince their constituents to take the vaccine will eventually win them over. For instance, not long ago, Mitch McConnel tried to persuade Republican voters, particularly males, to take the vaccine because it was safe to do so.
No matter what anyone says, though, there will continue to be some adults in this country who won’t take the vaccine at this point or at any time in the future. They have heard too many leaders they respect and follow speaking out against it. Some of them genuinely think that if they get the vaccine, they’re going to get a microchip along with it or other far more bizarre theories.
NPR reported that one in four Americans don’t want the vaccine and say they won’t get one. That’s going to put herd immunity at risk.
Herd immunity occurs when enough of our population has taken the vaccine so that we cannot spread Covid-19 easily throughout the country. If we can achieve this, then the spread will peter out. If many more people have received the vaccine than haven’t, any new outbreaks will die down quickly, and there would not be any super spreader events.
What About “Returning to Normal?”
Many people have talked about what it would take to “return to normal.” They mean returning to life like it was before the pandemic, with no social distancing guidelines, no masks, and no hand sanitizer everywhere.
But how realistic is it to think this could happen if we don’t achieve herd immunity? Most doctors and scientists seem to believe that for this to occur, about 80-85% of the nation would need to get the vaccine. It doesn’t seem likely that’s going to happen based on what people are saying.
This means that further into 2021 and into 2022, we could start to see more dangerous and contagious Covid-19 variants. The UK already reported one, and it’s probably not the last.
Not long ago, President Biden tried a mass outreach program to inform as many people as possible that the vaccines are safe. He enlisted allies as diverse as faith leaders, unions, and even NASCAR drivers.
Experts feel that this kind of broad outreach effort can help if as many leaders as possible from all of life’s walks can keep driving the message home. If they’re not successful, though, we could start to see regional outbreaks in mostly nonvaccinated areas in the years to come.
In one way or another, this will probably mean that we’re not going to be able to completely eradicate Covid-19 in the foreseeable future.
