A Pandemic of the Unvaccinated

 The CDC Director, Rochelle Walensky, warned us this week that we are facing a “pandemic of the unvaccinated.” As of 2 days ago, CDC reported about 185.4 million people have received at least one dose of vaccine and that 160.7 million have received two doses of either the Pfizer-Biontech or Moderna mRNA vaccines. From a peak of 3.38 million people receiving a dose of vaccine on 13 April, now we are seeing barely more than half a million doses administered daily across the United States. Unsurprisingly, the resultant map is a patchwork quilt of states that have done very well in getting their population immunized (Vermont 86% with one dose and 77% fully vaccinated; Hawaii 84.1% with one dose and 64% fully vaccinated) while other states have more dismal numbers (Louisiana 50.1% with one dose and 46% fully vaccinated; Mississippi 47.7% with one dose and 43% fully vaccinated).

The result has been a distinct upswing in cases and hospitalizations with the dominance of the Delta variant.  Delta variant is more contagious than the previous SARS-CoV-2 variants with an estimated R-naught of 3.5 to 4. Some have compared its transmissibility to measles. It affects mostly unvaccinated people and will cause hyperlocal outbreaks such as are being seen in Missouri and Arkansas. The unvaccinated are appearing ill, in hospitals and ICUs, and will shortly contribute to an upswing in mortality from Covid-19. 

And this outcome was all preventable. Several points about that decline in daily vaccinations that I noted above. There has been a lot of disinformation spread through social media and sources such as Fox and OAN regarding vaccines. The Center for Countering Digital Hate, an independent research group, reported that 65% of the disinformation about covid vaccines comes from just 12 sources. Facebook has made feeble attempts to curb this and was called out for the effects of such disinformation on Friday. “They’re killing people,” the President said. A recent CBS poll and the article in the New York Times corroborate this. The science overwhelmingly supports both the safety and efficiency of current vaccines, especially the mRNA vaccines, against all variants including Delta. Yet vaccine hesitancy has now become vaccine hostility in the United States. GOP politicians at all levels, from school boards to the Senate, lie incessantly about the evils of vaccines and the seeds they have planted have borne poisonous fruit in the pandemic. We are nowhere near the end of the pandemic and the right-wing obstruction will prolong it and the rolls of the sick and the dead. In the words of Maria Van Kerkhove, a WHO epidemiologist, “the world needs a reality check.”

Until we vaccinate a much higher proportion of people, we will struggle along and read the stories of people who refused vaccine and then entered a hospital. Such people are a societal burden in a variety of ways but medical professionals will continue to risk their own physical and mental health to provide for them -- because they are professionals.

I can think of two ways to accelerate the vaccination effort. First, the FDA has to get off its behind and issue full approval for the adult versions of the vaccine so that the idea that it is only authorized for emergency use no longer applies. In concert with that, vaccines for children must be approved quickly. While kids are at lesser risk of severe disease, they are not at zero risk. FDA, get on with it.

Second, we need to take a note from France. French President Emmanuel Macron is making covid vaccines mandatory for healthcare workers and also is making entrance to public places contingent on a pass indicating vaccination for others. Of course, there were protests about the passes. But there was also a rush for vaccines, 3 million in 5 days. For those who cry “Freedom!” about such tactics, I remind them that their freedom to spread a highly contagious and deadly virus stops at the nostrils of another human susceptible to the virus. And, we all pay for this pandemic. I am tired of continuing to pay for it because people want “freedom” to act irrationally and dangerously.