Planning for COVID-19 vaccinations continues.

There are several issues that are going to have to be addressed. Among those is the vaccine will be sent in temperature controlled packaging — when any vaccine is taken out it must be used within 24 hours. Another consideration is that the second dose, administered 21 to 28 days after the initial vaccination, must be from the same manufacturer. These two factors make mobile clinic administration very difficult. The population will be divided into five phases with the first two being health-care workers and people with underlying conditions that put them at higher risk for contracting the virus. Obviously first responders have to be factored into this equation also. Of course all this is moot unless there is a significant change in acceptance, which is tied to concerns about the safety of the product. I have found no employee here that wants to be vaccinated given the consternation about the process being used to test the various vaccines.

There is an increased emphasis on getting the seasonal influenza vaccination this year. The fear is that people who get both COVID and the seasonal flu are going to find it is very difficult to survive. Typically a little more than 50% of the population has been getting the vaccine annually. For our region, acquiring the vaccine in October gives the maximum protection as our season typically runs into March and April. Vaccine is readily available in our area at many clinics, so this would be a good time to get the shot.

This article started by discussing vaccination as a key to preventing the spread of COVID-19, but some people think that is just a step toward getting herd immunity. It would take upwards of 70% of the population to be immune in order to have herd immunity. Currently we have had a little less than 5,000 positive cases in Robeson County — which equates to a little less than 4% of the total population. There are estimates that for every case identified there are four asymptomatic cases not identified. Since these people would have immunity along with those identified through testing, we would have about 20% of our population with some sort of immunity. That is, unless it wanes after three months at which point you begin to subtract them from the total.

The point being, 20% is a long way from 70%, so we would need at least a 50% vaccination rate to get close to a high level of immunity. That is going to be a hard sell.

Bill Smith is the director of the Robeson County Health Department.