Republicans May Prevent Herd Immunity

Last updated on: March 16, 2021 at 10:37 am by Kermit Zarley

Republicans May Prevent Herd Immunity 2021-03-16T10:37:48-07:00 Kermit Zarley

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

People are getting vaccinated around the world for COVID-19, especially in advanced countries. Israel has vaccinated a larger percentage of its population, more than half now, than any other country. Israel has had the most aggressive vaccination plan of any country even though ultra-Orthodox Jews have been very resistant to being vaccinated.

Part of Israel’s progress has to do with the price national governments have paid to get the vaccination material. In the free world, Israel agreed in the very beginning to pay the most of any country to ensure that it would get the vaccination vials early. On average, Israel is paying $25 per vaccination; the U.S. is paying $20 per vaccination; and Europe is paying $15-19 per vaccination.

The price for vaccinations has affected how soon they are delivered. The higher the price, the sooner the vials are delivered. As a result, Israel has the largest percentage of people vaccinated and Europe has a low percentage, that is, among advanced nations. Experts say Europe was foolish in trying to negotiate such low prices.

Some American pharmaceuticals have vaccines that require only one shot, such as Johnson and Johnson. Pfizer and Moderna have a vaccine that requires two shots. I got my second Moderna shot ten days ago. I never felt anything or had any reaction afterwards except, if I pushed hard on the place in my tricep where I was shot, I could barely feel it. Yet, skepticism about the vaccines is problematic.

Polls are being taken around the world to learn about skepticism in taking vaccinations for COVID-19. People are being asked if they will take the shot if it is being proved “safe and effective.” China may have the least skepticism toward the vaccines as any nation. About 90% of Chinese say they will get the shot or shots. About 75 of Americans say they will take the shot or have already had the shot. About 65% of Europeans say they will take the shot. France is about 65%, and Poland is 55%. This seems to reflect whether or not people trust their government and health authorities.

About 50% of Americans who claim to be Republican in their political persuasion say they will take the shot, thus 50% say they will not take it. That could affect our government’s effort to try achieve “herd immunity.” The purpose of the vaccine is to produce antibodies that fight off the disease, called COVID-19. If people get the disease, that also creates antibodies. If enough people have antibodies to resist the disease, and thereby become immune to it so that it cannot make them ill, that is called “herd immunity.”

Health authorities say that 70-80% of a nation’s people need to develop antibodies to to the disease in order for the nation to achieve herd immunity. That way, the other people in the nation who do not have such antibodies, the remaining 20-30%, are quite unlikely to contract the disease. When that happens, it becomes somewhat unnecessary to continue giving the vaccinations. However, this coronavirus may turn out to be like the annual flu season, in which people will need to get an annual COIVD vaccination just like they get an annual flu shot.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, who is now President Joe Biden’s chief advisor about COVID-19, said recently that the high percentage of Republicans who say they will not get the COVID-19 vaccination could prevent the U.S. from achieving herd immunity. He therefore called on ex-president Donald Trump to make an announcement advising his Republican supporters to get the vaccination.

That is a problem. Trump made this disease political. He downplayed it and finally ignored it while still president. His health advisors put out guidelines, such as wearing a mask in public and doing social distancing (six feet away from other people). But Trump himself refused to follow the guidelines, even sometimes mocking people who wore masks. It was an astonishing phenomena to see a president thumbing his nose at health authority advise when hundreds of thousands of Americans were dying from this disease that could be contained somewhat by following these health guidelines.

President Trump and his wife Melania got the vaccinations in January. Yet they never told the public they did. That is unconscionable! If Trump refused to tell people he got the shot, it is unlikely he will follow Fauci’s call for Trump to tell his Republican supporters to get the shot. Trump’s failure as president regarding this pandemic is still happening. He could help the U.S. achieve herd immunity to it, but it appears he won’t.

One reason is that President Trump constantly spoke derogatorily of Dr. Fauci, so that so many Republicans now do the same. I hear it every once in a while from people, even my friends and relatives. They hate Dr. Fauci, yet his peers speak very highly of him. All of this is because of Donald Trump. He’s not our president any more, thank God, yet he’s still doing the opposite of Making America Great Again.

Previous Post

March 14, 2021

Justin Thomas Wins The Players

Next Post

March 17, 2021 U.S. Catholic Church to Pay Reparations for Slavery

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Angels Billy Graham Blog Description Book Reviews Christian Living Christianity Christology Church History Current Events Deity of Christ? Disarmament Eschatology Evangelicalism Ezekiel 38-39 Film Reviews God Golf Gospel Harmonization Health History Holy Spirit Incarnation? Interview Islam Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Jesus Last Empire Literary Announcements Major Championship Winners Masters Monotheism My Books New Testament Old Testament Politics Primitive Weapons Ryder Cup Science Society of Biblical Literature The Bible The Restitution of Jesus Christ Trinitarianism Trinity? Uncategorized Unconditional Love? War on Terrorism

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who said, "To the pure, all things are pure"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

James Paul Peter John

Books by This Author Books by Kermit Zarley Blog

See All Titles »