Hidalgo County’s health authority said Tuesday the region is halfway toward reaching herd immunity, considering those who have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine or have contracted and survived the virus.
Dr. Ivan Melendez estimates approximately 220,000 people in the county have received at least their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. He also estimates that around 200,000 people have been exposed to the virus.
As of Wednesday, 77,348 people have tested positive for the virus. Melendez multiplies this number by three because that is the average number someone with the virus spreads it to, according to the World Health Organization.
More often than not, people infected with the virus experience only mild symptoms that do not push them to get tested, according to the Cleveland Clinic, an academic medical center. The nonprofit’s research indicates about 80% of people who contract the virus experience minor flu-like symptoms and many never realize they carried and spread the virus.
Melendez predicted about 40% of the county has reached immunity, and said it will take another 300,000 people to reach herd immunity for the entire county.
Immunity can be achieved either through vaccination or a past infection. Herd immunity is when enough people in a community, about 70% of the population, are immune and the uncontrolled spread of the disease stops.
Herd immunity also works to kill the virus. Since it’s unable to find new hosts, it dies in the person with immunity.
Smallpox, an infectious disease last diagnosed in 1977, is an example of a virus eradicated by herd immunity through vaccination.
Melendez explained that achieving herd immunity is synonymous to moving into a post-pandemic society.
“It’s when people can confidently walk about in the community and not be afraid they are going to catch the disease,” he said.
He emphasized the word “herd” in the concept, saying herd immunity requires a unified effort from a community.
“This term is associated with groups of animals coming together, like a herd of cattle, herd of sheep, herd of goats,” Melendez said. “And the idea is that when you are in a herd, then you can develop protection.”
When a coyote preys on a flock of sheep, he said, the sheep cluster together and find strength in each other. A sheep alone is nearly defenseless to a coyote.
“But then you have to think: what is the size of our herd? It’s 2021 — what is the size of our herd?” Melendez asked rhetorically.
The increase in traveling, he said, has made the entire globe the virus’ playground.
The first COVID-19 patient was in China more than a year ago, and the first cases of the virus in Hidalgo County came from Italy and Las Vegas.
“We’re going to need to have 70% of the world to have some kind of protection,” Melendez said.
And big changes start with small steps.
“Your herd starts with your family and your block, and your city and your country and your state,” he said. “You can’t impact what is going on in Indonesia, but we certainly impact what is going on in Hidalgo County.”
The importance of immunizing with urgency, he said, is to keep the virus from mutating. New variants pose a threat to voiding the protection of current vaccines, though the new strains have not proven to do so yet.
In Hidalgo County, four cases of a variant of COVID-19 have been discovered, health officials announced Wednesday.
Melendez is imploring the community to stay diligent in following safety measures to mitigate the spread of the virus. “This is a very obtainable and reachable goal,” he said. “Taking your mask off and opening businesses 100% before we are truly ready is definitely moving in the wrong direction. Anything that moves us away from ending this virus is counterproductive because it allows the virus to mutate to the point where the vaccine won’t work.”
