MEMPHIS, Tenn. — With the rollout of the vaccine, many are wondering if this is possibly the beginning of the end.
As health experts learn more on how to fight Covid-19, the question on top of people's minds is when the greater population will all be safe from the virus. David Sweat, the chief epidemiologist at the Shelby County Health Department, said during Thursday's press conference that efficient vaccine distribution is a top priority.
"As far as the vaccination efforts, that is uppermost on people's minds right now," Sweat said.
No time or vials of the vaccine are wasted as SCHD works to meet the demand.
"No, absolutely not. We’ve not had to dispose of any," Sweat said. "They were either used on-site or if there were vials remaining at the end of the day, they went back to the pharmacy for redeployment the next day."
He said the biggest question they are getting is "when" more individuals can qualify for the vaccine. The strong desire to beat this pandemic is following a nearly year-long fight with more than 70,000 people in Shelby County having been infected.
"We are very aware that there’s a great deal of interest in the community broadly for people to understand when the vaccine will be available for them," Sweat said.
The CDC reported there is not enough information to say when it will stop recommending that people wear masks and social distance.
"Experts need to understand more about the protection that COVID-19 vaccines provide before making that decision," the CDC reported. "Other factors, including how many people get vaccinated and how the virus is spreading in communities, will also affect this decision."
The World Health Organization recommends the greatest way we can achieve "herd" immunity" is through vaccination.
"'Herd immunity', also known as 'population immunity', is the indirect protection from an infectious disease that happens when a population is immune either through vaccination or immunity developed through previous infection," WHO reported. "WHO supports achieving 'herd immunity' through vaccination, not by allowing a disease to spread through any segment of the population, as this would result in unnecessary cases and deaths."
Dr. Bruce Randolph with SCHD said until more people get vaccinated, we need to maintain the personal responsibility of following health guidelines.
"We’ve done most of what we can do until everyone gets vaccinated who wants to be vaccinated," Randolph said.