The study area is Woodside, Zip code- 11377, a residential and commercial neighborhood in Queens borough in New York City. According to Wilensky and Akpan (2021), Corona Virus cases in Woodside from November 6 to November 12 are as follows: there were 1.5% positive cases, whereby among the 2600 people tested, 39 of them tested positive. The November 14, 2021, statistics show that the proportions of residents of all ages in Woodside who have received vaccines against COVID-19 include 84% (fully vaccinated) and 89% (partially vaccinated).
Herd immunity refers to the hindrance to the spread of diseases following high immunity to an infectious disease. Herd immunity occurs when the proportion of the people capable of getting a disease is less than the population immune to the disease. Therefore, the community transmission level in Queens County is substantial and positive cases are 1.74% (D’Souza and Dowdy, 2021). The county is far from the herd immunity level since the rate of COVID-19 spread is high compared to the proportion of the population immune to the disease.
Today’s current concern is genomic testing and tracking to reach herd immunity. The variant is racing ahead; hence, the nation is in reactive mode. According to White (2021), being behind the virus following administration disagreements limits our ability to achieve herd immunity. However, a lack of a strategic plan results in poor approaches to ending the pandemic. The freedom of choosing whether to be vaccinated hinders the nation from achieving herd immunity since most people are against the vaccine. Hence, a state should conduct a more significant proportion of a population immune to a disease to stop its spread depending on its contagious level.
I perceive that governments and administrations should establish strategic plans and work together to end this pandemic. Although it is ethically right to allow people to make individual decisions concerning the vaccine, I support Garrett’s opinion that governments should place a massive push to vaccinate people. I believe that states should offer eligibility for children’s vaccination since most of them are susceptible to Corona Virus to achieve herd immunity.
References
D’Souza, G., & Dowdy, D. (2021). Rethinking herd immunity and the COVID-19 response end game. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Web.
White, D. (2021). Pandemics expert urges vigilance as COVID-19 variants spread. UC Santa Cruz News. Web.
Wilensky, J. J., & Akpan, N. (2021). Coronavirus statistics: Tracking the epidemic in New York. Gothamist. Web.