What happens if herd immunity isn’t reached?

What happens if society doesn’t reach herd immunity with the COVID-19 vaccine?

Doctors addressed that question on Thursday morning at the University of Kansas Health System news conference.

Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer, said many of the 35 percent of the people who are vaccine-hesitant also don’t want to wear masks.

Because of that, some of them will have had COVID-19, he believes. That will create some immunity, but perhaps not as good against the South African variant, he said. Having had the COVID-19 virus that most people have had earlier will probably not protect against the South African type.

“In general, if you’ve had COVID at least for six to eight to 12 months, or you’ve been vaccinated, you’ll be part of the herd immunity, and we could see a decrease. Even if 65 percent have been vaccinated and 35 percent haven’t, if some percentage of that, say half, have been infected, then we’re closer to 75 to 85 percent.

“The problem will be there will be a pool of people who will have not had it, who can then continue to transmit it, and virus will continue to mutate, and that is a danger to us all,” Dr. Stites said.

What they will find is more companies and hospitals will begin to say that vaccination is mandatory, he said. They already do that with influenza vaccine, with measles, mumps and rubella and other vaccines, he said.

Once the vaccines have full approval, there may be a rise in public health policies centered around vaccines, he said.

While people are afraid of that, it’s already done with flu vaccines at many businesses and hospitals, he said. They haven’t required COVID-19 vaccinations yet locally because it’s not fully authorized by the FDA, but there are already 5 to 10 percent of the hospitals in the nation requiring it.

“As long as there is a pool of people who have not been vaccinated and have not had coronavirus,” he said, “that’s where coronavirus can live, spread and mutate. And when it mutates, then it does become a threat again to all of us.”

Dr. Hawkinson said there was a stronger signal in the data that says that vaccination is the way out of this. Data shows the immunity gained from immunization is stronger than the immunity gained by infection, he said.

If people continue to be hesitant about vaccines, “virologically, it does mean you have an increased risk of creating these other variants,” Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control, said.

Every time a virus gets into a new host and starts to replicate, there are always chances for new variants to arise, he said. That is why vaccination is so important, as it reduces the overall replication in any one individual, thereby decreasing the chance they may develop new variants on top of the variants they already have.

In India, there is a double mutation, a combination of two variants, he said.

To those who feel that they shouldn’t be vaccinated because they are just one person, Dr. Stites said it is a public health threat. When the virus reproduces, it can mutate inside a host, and if you are protected by the vaccine, it can’t reproduce, and the odds of mutation drop dramatically.

If you’re not vaccinated, and you get infected by the coronavirus and it mutates, you can give that illness to someone else, he said.

“If the mutation is somehow different that the vaccination process doesn’t recognize, then the vaccinations can become ineffective and you can infect everyone, and then you have to start all over again,” he said. “No one wants to restart the pandemic, no one wants to go back to full-scale lockdown.”

So for one person to say they don’t want to get a vaccine is understandable, but from a public health perspective it’s a bad answer, he said.

“What you have to think about is what does it mean to the rest of us,” Dr. Stites said, “because if you don’t get vaccinated, that mutation is in you, And that mutation is then spread, and it becomes the dominant strain, and we all go back down to lockdown. That’s the gamble we have when people choose not to vaccinate. That’s the reason measles vaccine is required in schools.”

People have to take care of each other, and that is their social pact, he said.

Dr. Stites urged people not to fumble the ball while they are almost at the goal line.

Dr. Hawkinson advised everyone to take advantage of the vaccines, and he added that not all countries in the world have access to as much vaccine as the United States has.

KU Health System has been offering vaccines for residents of Wyandotte and Johnson counties, and had several thousand still available on Thursday. Those interested may call 913-588-1227 or visit kansashealthsystem.com/vaccine for an appointment.

Vaccinations available

Vaccinations will be available from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Friday, April 9, at the three Unified Government vaccination clinics. Both walk-in and scheduled appointments are possible.

The Unified Government Health Department has added hours on every Saturday in April at its east vaccination facility at the Kansas National Guard Armory, 18th and Ridge.

Saturday hours will be 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. April 10, April 17 and April 24. The Saturday vaccinations are open to people age 18 and older who live in Wyandotte County.

Patients being vaccinated on Saturdays will receive the one-dose Johnson and Johnson vaccine. This vaccine is approved only for those 18 and older. Wyandotte County residents wishing to be vaccination can either walk in to receive their vaccination or make an appointment.

In order to accommodate the new Saturday vaccination hours, the Health Department will need to reduce hours on Mondays temporarily. For April:
• The Armory vaccination (100 S. 20th St.) site will be closed on Monday, April 12.
• The former Kmart site (7836 State Ave) will be closed on Monday, April 19.
• The former Best Buy site (10500 Parallel Parkway) will be closed on Monday, April 26.

Go to WycoVaccines.org to schedule an appointment online, or call 3-1-1. Walk-ins also are available.

Other sites available for vaccinations:

The University of Kansas Health System also is offering vaccinations for Wyandotte and Johnson county residents. Any resident of Kansas can call to get an appointment whether they are a patient or not at the health system. There were about 8,000 open appointments earlier this week.
KU Health System offers vaccinations seven days a week at different locations. Appointments are required. Current patients may use MyChart to make an appointment. Others may call 913-588-1227 or visit kansashealthsystem.com/vaccine.

There are also pharmacies giving COVID-19 vaccinations in Wyandotte County by appointment, when available. These include Price Chopper and Hen House pharmacy at 76th and State Avenue, and 81st and State Avenue (see https://www.ballsfoodspharmacy.com/), and Medicine Shoppe pharmacy at 65th and Parallel by appointment when available (see https://www.facebook.com/The-Medicine-Shoppe-Kansas-City-281548241870522). CVS pharmacy also has announced that it will offer COVID-19 vaccines at one of its stores in Kansas City, Kansas. Registration is at CVS.com.

COVID-19 case numbers reported

The University of Kansas Health System reported eight active COVID-19 patients on Thursday morning, no change from Wednesday, according to Dr. Hawkinson. Of the eight patients, two were in the intensive care unit, a decrease of one from Wednesday. Two patients were on a ventilator, an increase of one since Wednesday. There were another 18 COVID-19 patients who were hospitalized but are out of the acute infection phase, an increase of four since Wednesday. There is a total 26 patients, an increase of four since Wednesday.

Wyandotte County reported an increase of 17 COVID-19 cases on Thursday, April 8, for a cumulative 18,172 cases, according to the Unified Government Health Department’s COVID-19 webpage. There was a cumulative total of 287 deaths reported, no change from Wednesday.

The Mid-America Regional Council’s COVID-19 dashboard reported 164,872 cumulative COVID-19 cases on Thursday, an increase of 72. The daily average of new hospitalizations was 69. The number of cumulative deaths was 2,342.

The state of Kansas reported 303,767 cumulative COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, April 7, an increase of 540 cases since Monday. There were a total cumulative 4,932 deaths reported statewide, an increase of five.

The Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 dashboard on Thursday night reported 31,001,640 cases in the United States, with 560,090 total deaths reported nationwide.

COVID-19 tests scheduled

COVID-19 testing is available at 8 a.m. Friday at Lowe’s, 6920 State Ave., by appointment. The tests are listed on the Go Get Tested site
at www.gogettested.com/Kansas. The WellHealth tests need appointments, which can be made at the website.

Unified Government Health Department COVID-19 testing and vaccine sites are scheduled to be open on Friday, April 9. For more information, visit https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/pages/what-to-do-if-you-think-you-have-covid-19. To see if there is any change to the schedule, visit https://www.facebook.com/UGHealthDept.

The Health Department is offering saliva COVID-19 tests to the public from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, April 9, at the former Kmart at 7836 State Ave. and at the former Best Buy at 10500 Parallel Parkway. Tests from the Health Department are free for those who live or work in Wyandotte County.

The tests are open to asymptomatic people as well as those who have symptoms or have been exposed to COVID-19. Check with the UG Health Department’s Facebook page to see if there have been any changes in the schedule. Bring something that shows that you live or work in Wyandotte County, such as a utility bill.

The Health Department’s general contact page is at https://www.wycokck.org/Health/Contact.aspx. Their Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/UGHealthDept.

Testing sites are at https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/pages/what-to-do-if-you-think-you-have-covid-19.

Saliva testing is now offered at the UG Health Department. For more information, visit https://alpha.wycokck.org/files/assets/public/health/documents/covid/02042021-ugphd-saliva-testing-available.pdf.

The KU doctors’ news conference is at https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/videos/215883270297671.

The University of Kansas Health System COVID-19 update page is at https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/videos/292961702392386.

A weekly vaccine report for the state of Kansas is at
https://www.kansasvaccine.gov/DocumentCenter/View/123/Vaccine-Historical-Document-22521?bidId=.

Wyandotte County has a local mask and social distancing ordinance approved by the UG Commission. The UG COVID-19 webpage is at https://alpha.wycokck.org/Coronavirus-COVID-19-Information.

The KDHE’s COVID-19 webpage is at https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/.

The KC Region COVID-19 Hub dashboard is at https://marc2.org/covidhub/.

The Wyandotte County page on the Johns Hopkins COVID-19 website is at https://bao.arcgis.com/covid-19/jhu/county/20209.html.

The Johns Hopkins Data in Motion, a presentation on critical COVID-19 data in the past 24 hours, is at https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/covid-19-daily-video.