by A.M.

COVID19 has become a controversial topic and everyone has a take on it. One side of the
topic is herd immunity and that if the United States used herd immunity as a solution we would
be better off. Herd immunity is what happens when the population is immune to a disease. This
can happen by being vaccinated or by getting the disease, in this case we are talking about
COVID19.

This would make the contraction of the disease not as likely. Even if people decide to
not get vaccinated, they will still be protected. This is because everyone else is doing the correct
thing. Therefore, this can be good for newborns or immunocompromised patients. They can be
safe and protected without putting themselves in danger.

Vaccines play a huge role in herd immunity. For example, the United States has
eradicated smallpox and polio, because people got vaccinated. However, if people stop getting
vaccinated, it could appear again. People should be getting vaccinated, because not only is it
helping themselves, they are helping the people who cannot be vaccinated. For example,
newborns, pregnant women, and immunocompromised patients.

Herd immunity counts on how contagious the illness is. It needs a lot of people to be
immune to it to reach herd immunity status. They can become immune by vaccine or by getting
the illness and having the antibodies and memory cells. That can help others who are at high risk.
If there are enough people who are immune and vaccinated, the high risk people are going to be
protected. This is because the “germs” cannot attach to the hosts it needs.

Regarding COVID19 specifically with herd immunity, it is an extremely contagious
disease. Most of the population needs to be immune against COVID19. This is by getting the
virus or by getting vaccinated. That is the only way herd immunity can be truly efficient. There
is no perfect timeline of when we can reach herd immunity as a country. This is because we are
still under lockdowns, restrictions, and wearing masks. The hope is that the more people get
vaccinated that will build up herd immunity.

A question that pops up with herd immunity is how come there is an outbreak of diseases
that could have been prevented if we have vaccines for them. In 2019 there were actually 1,292
cases in the United States that could have been prevented from vaccines from various different
diseases (Herd Immunity, 2021). This happens when there are not enough people being
vaccinated in a community. It can also start from traveling as well. For example, an individual
from the United States goes to visit another country and the other country has not eradicated
polio and the individual comes into contact with the virus. Then the American comes home and
can expose others to the polio virus in the United States.

There are some reasons why people are not protected by certain diseases. First, some
vaccines do not last as long as others over a long period of time. Second, patients might not be
going back for the follow up vaccines. For example, the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR)
vaccine require two shots. And now the COVID19 vaccine needs two shots. A patient is only
fully protected about a week after their second shot.

However, herd immunity does have some cons, just like everything else. People tend to
be around others who believe in the same thing. This could cause a problem if there are a group
of people who do not believe in vaccines and they go to the same places (school, church, etc.).
Then if there are not enough vaccinated people, then the exposure to the very contagious disease
could spread quickly among people.

In the survey conducted, two individuals answered a series of five questions regarding
COVID19. The first question was as follows: “How do you feel about Colorado’s law regarding
masks that require that any individual over the age of 10 has to wear a mask (covering nose and
mouth) indoors?” Person A responded with: “I believe that it takes away freedom. It is
dictatorial, even if it is for the sake of health and safety.” Person B responded with: “I think it is
absurd, because you are now creating and fostering an environment of fear. And I would say that
the masks are not a necessity due to the historical data that has been provided. And with Sen. Ted
Cruz no longer has restrictions in Texas, I believe we will see no change or spike in COVID
cases.”

The second question was as follows: “Do you think that masks have done more harm
than good, considering we are compromising our immune system and not allowing antibodies
(memory cells, more specifically allowing the B lymphocyte cells to do its job)? ” Person A
responded with: “Overall absolutely. The barriers it has put up among people have caused more
harm than good. From human behavior to interaction.” Person B responded with: “Yes. I would
say that enforcing the wearing of masks inhibits people from training, breathing, and
communicating, which has overall made it a lot more difficult to have individuals adapt to a
society where policing each other is the new norm.”

The third question was as follows: “Do you believe that masks will be mandated more
since Biden is president?” Person A responded with: “Absolutely it will. In the beginning, it
somewhat made sense when we did not know the level of impact or to try to slow down the
number of positive cases so we can manage hospital support. But now it just seems indefinite. 14
days turned into 100 days turned into a 1 year. The virus and new strands will be here forever. So
is the plan to wear a mask forever?” Person B responded with: “I hope not. With the move that
Texas is making. I hope it spreads to other states. And there will be less restrictions with mask
wearing.”

The fourth question was as follows: “Regarding COVID deaths, there have been 246
deaths per 100,000 people in New York. In Florida there have been 146 deaths per 100,000
people and they even have an older population. Do you think that how these two states handled
the COVID situation, affected their number of deaths. While New York has been on strict
lockdown orders and masks, and Florida has not had any restrictions for at least the last 10
months (Statista, 2021).” Person A responded with: “Simply put, masks and lockdowns don’t
drive the number of COVID cases. The way ‘science’ claims that it does.” Person B responded
with “Yes, I think it shows that having people staying at home and being restricted does no good
to isolating the virus.”

The fifth and last question was as follows: “How has the lockdowns affected the
community you live in or work in?” Person A is a service member that works at the United
States Air Force Academy and responded with the following: “For 4,200 cadets it has put an
absolute strain on them. It has separated and isolated the cadets. It has very much limited the
interaction of cadets, to the point where they do not even know each other.” Person B responded
with: “The COVID lockdown has changed the overall dynamic of my community. Because there
have been multiple scares within the community, which caused a crisis to arise forcing people to
not engage with others.”

*Survey was conducted with two individuals who would like to stay anonymous on March 6,
2021.

References

Herd immunity . (2021, January 23). APIC. https://apic.org/monthly_alerts/herd-immunity/

Statista. (2021, March 4). COVID-19 death rates in the United States as of March 4, 2021, by
state . https://www.statista.com/statistics/1109011/coronaviruscovid19-
death-rates-us-by-state/