President Joe Biden has declared a vaccination “National Month of Action” to get the U.S. to herd immunity against COVID-19, alongside a slew of public health initiatives to close the remaining vaccine gap in the country.
It may be summer before children under 16 can be vaccinated against COVID-19 in the United States. That’s a problem for reaching herd immunity quickly. Children are a significant portion of the population—roughly 65 million are under the age of 16, making up 20% of people in the U.S.
Gov. Tate Reeves announced on Feb. 9 that more Mississippians had received at least one shot of vaccine than have ever contracted COVID-19, the first of many milestones in the long road toward exterminating the virus in the state. Vaccinations have crested at 288,699, and second shots are rapidly following, with 81,790 delivered in total. The state’s population is just under 3 million. Census estimates from 2019 peg the over-18 population, the core demographic for vaccinations, at 2,276,754, leaving just under 2 million Mississippians left to receive shots.
Mississippi is set to receive 37,000 first doses of COVID-19 vaccine each week, mostly intended for Mississippi State Department of Health drive-through clinics, putting a long road ahead of the effort to reach herd immunity through vaccination. At that vaccination rate, it would take roughly 57 weeks to fully vaccinate the population of the state, just over a year and a month in all.
Dr. Anthony Fauci and other national health leaders have said that African Americans need to take the COVID-19 vaccine to protect their health. What Fauci and others have not stated is that if African Americans don’t take the vaccine, the nation as a whole will never get to herd immunity.
Since we don’t have an approved vaccine in widespread use, yet, protective measures are still essential. As a nursing-school dean, recommend taking these seven simple steps to protect yourself and your loved ones and reduce the spread of COVID-19.
Gov. Reeves revealed plans to re-enact mask mandates in nine counties, including DeSoto, Jackson, Lee, Forrest, Lamar, Itawamba, Neshoba, Claiborne and Chickasaw counties.
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