Nearly a third of Americans are fully vaccinated. But one thing could still delay our return to normal
“It’s going to take us that much longer to get back to life as normal, to stop having to wear masks for our protection, if people don’t get vaccinated and we don’t have equitable distribution of vaccines,” infectious diseases specialist Dr. Celine Gounder told CNN on Sunday.
Experts including Dr. Anthony Fauci have estimated between 70% to 85% of the US population needs to be immune to the virus — through vaccination or previous infection — to control its spread.
“We need to be … innovative around both culturally competent education and be thoughtful about where the holes are and where we can get shots in people’s arms,” infectious diseases expert Dr. Mati Hlatshwayo Davis told CNN over the weekend.
Customers dine on an outdoor patio in New York on April 27, 2021
Doctor worries whether young people will get a shot
One doctor told CNN on Sunday he’s worried officials haven’t offered strong enough incentives for some Americans to get vaccinated — including younger Americans.
“What I worry about mostly are the young people,” primary care physician Dr. Saju Mathew said. “I see them every day pretty much at work.”
But the guidelines are too cautious, as some unvaccinated Americans are already unmasking outdoors, Mathew said.
“I think that the CDC missed an opportunity to say, ‘listen, we can return to pre-pandemic lives and you can do more if you’re vaccinated,'” Mathew said. “So I think, when the science is there with positive news, we must share that and motivate people to get vaccinated.”
A recent Quinnipiac University poll found that 36% of adults under the age of 35 say they don’t plan on getting one.
That’s particularly worrisome for several reasons.
‘A ton of young people’ testing positive
The governor said the median age of residents testing positive for the virus has dropped.
“When it recently came down to 44 years of age, we thought, ‘Uh oh. We’ve got a problem. We need to get our young people vaccinated,'” Justice said in a statement. “But now we’re down to 34, and that means we’ve got a ton of young people that are testing positive.”
“Long Covid represents one more reason to encourage everyone age 16 and over to get vaccinated as quickly as possible,” Collins said.
In Oregon, where the governor recently tightened restrictions for some counties amid a surge in new cases and hospitalizations, another warning for young residents.
The governor urged residents to step up and get vaccinated to help slow the spread of the virus and help the state get on the “quickest path toward lifting restrictions.”
