After months of progress in slowing the spread of the virus that's killed over 600 thousand Americans, the United States is once again seeing cases, hospitalizations, and deaths rise stratospherically in the wake of the stronger, more contagious Delta variant.
Though nearly 200 million Americans have been vaccinated this year, there's still an insufficient number for herd immunity, where enough are vaccinated worldwide to limit the virus's ability to reproduce, thereby eradicating the threat of stronger, more vaccine-resistant variants like Delta becoming dominant.
As people around the world struggle to secure their vaccinations, millions of Americans have succumbed to right-wing disinformation regarding the vaccines, willfully refusing the opportunity to save not just their lives, but the lives of countless others. Until the number of fully vaccinated people reaches around 70 percent or higher, herd immunity will be unattainable.
Yet American resistance to vaccination appears to only grow stronger and more irrational, with claims that the vaccines are microchipped or act as the biblical "mark of the beast". Right-wing media personalities like those at Fox News and Newsmax seem determined to undermine public trust in vaccines whose safety and effectiveness has been repeatedly proven.
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director and top Biden Administration health advisor, Dr. Anthony Fauci, warned that—if vaccine-resistant Americans continue to refuse the vaccine—there is only one way to achieve herd immunity.
Watch below.
Mehdi Hasan: "With the vaccine reluctant or hesitant...can we get to herd immunity without them?"\n\nDr. Fauci: "I don't think so"pic.twitter.com/mkle7Dnw0F— MSNBC (@MSNBC) 1629805500
Fauci told MSNBC's Mehdi Hasan:
"The only way you could get to herd immunity without them is, the unfortunate situation, is if they all wind up getting infected, and then you'll have a combination of infected individuals who have some degree of protection, together with vaccinated individuals. But that's gonna lead to a whole lot of suffering, a whole lot of hospitalization, and a whole lot of death."
He added:
"We already have 620 some-odd thousand people who have already died in this country. We don't need anymore. We can get herd immunity really easily if you get everybody vaccinated."
The outlook is bleak.
We have a portion of the country that would rather watch people die or die themselves to make a party look bad— Dave (@Dave) 1629813113
The early vaccinated people are going to need to achieve the SAME level of booster uptake as vaccine uptake. The percentage of effectively vaccinated people can actually start to DROP over time as antibodies wane. Will we ever learn, or will death spikes be inevitable?— Greg. Spelled with two Gs. (@Greg. Spelled with two Gs.) 1629810067
C19 will be around for a long time. Mask wearing will become fashion.— Anubis Realm (@Anubis Realm) 1629806218
Why do some people think they know more than our scientists and health professionals?— mike milano (@mike milano) 1629808416
There's growing frustration with the willfully unvaccinated and the risks they're imposing on Americans who did their part.
I'm no expert on medical ethics, but at a certain point, we have to start seriously discussing why the willfully unvaccinated are taking priority over other people with extremely serious health conditions.https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/08/16/joel-valdez-houston-covid-hospitals/\u00a0\u2026— Amanda Marcotte (@Amanda Marcotte) 1629230645
my compassion for the willfully unvaccinated has run out now, this is my public warning— mamie davis (@mamie davis) 1629235710
Anti-vaxxers say they\u2019re fighting for their freedoms, but they\u2019re really the ones who are holding the rest of us back from reclaiming ours.— \ud835\udce2\ud835\udcf6\ud835\udcf2\ud835\udcfd\ud835\udcee!\u26a1\ufe0f (@\ud835\udce2\ud835\udcf6\ud835\udcf2\ud835\udcfd\ud835\udcee!\u26a1\ufe0f) 1629774551
This is why I have no patience, no time and no tolerance left for the voluntarily unvaccinated.https://twitter.com/boatical/status/1429527403697786891\u00a0\u2026— Daniel Squizzato \u2b50\ufe0f (@Daniel Squizzato \u2b50\ufe0f) 1629661139
I'm old enough to remember when polio ripped through the globe and put my six-year-old friends into iron lungs.\n\nWe dutifully lined up at school to get polio shots (without the howling of governors or anti-vaxxers). And we eradicated polio.\n\nWhy has saving lives become political?— Robert Reich (@Robert Reich) 1629749103
It's unclear when, or if, herd immunity will be reached, and Fauci doubts it will happen before next spring.
