Possibilities of a COVID-19 vaccine create questions about herd immunity.
There are two types of herd immunity, vaccine immunity and natural disease immunity. Vaccine immunity eliminates chances of getting the virus for anyone that gets the vaccine. Natural disease immunity is creating immunity to the virus which comes from a percentage of the population contracting the virus, according to www.mayoclinic.org.
President Donald Trump during press conferences has said the virus will go away due to herd immunity, specifically natural disease herd immunity. It is unknown what percentage of the population has to contract COVID-19 before herd immunity is achieved, but scientists have predicted 70 percent of the United States population, according to www.mayoclinic.org.
Carmen Nickel, director of Southwestern Oklahoma State University Nursing Program, believes natural disease herd immunity could be dangerous.
“Natural disease immunity is not ideal because you are still putting individuals at risk, even people who aren’t high risk still are at risk and newborns would still be able to contract the virus,” Nickel said.
Vaccine immunity is another possibility for eliminating COVID-19 because it comes with the least amount of risk. It also would protect those who aren’t able to take the vaccine like newborns and those with compromised immune systems.
“We possibly could have several different vaccines for COVID-19 almost like all of the different types of flu vaccines they provide,” Nickel said.
A vaccine could be dangerous and have symptoms and side effects which would make the vaccine unsafe for some individuals.
“Of course the vaccine could have side effects and be dangerous, but several tests are being used on human subjects right now, and when they do start distribution it will be good to have a trusted care provider,” Nickel said.
A timeframe for a vaccine is still unknown at this time, and around 2.5 percent of the United States population has contracted COVID-19 which is far away from the 70 percent needed to create natural infection immunity.