Health officials say Shasta County is far from reaching herd immunity against COVID-19.
Public Information Officer Kerri Schuette says about 70 percent of the county’s population would need some form of protection against the disease – such as through infection or vaccination – to achieve community immunity.
That amounts to about 126,000 people. So far, Schuette says Shasta County has confirmed about 6,500 cases of coronavirus.“We are nowhere near herd immunity. Even if we have triple that – or 10 times that – in cases that people just weren’t tested or they didn’t know or whatever. That still is not even anywhere near what we would need for herd immunity,” she said.
Herd immunity greatly lowers the likelihood of a disease spreading from one person to another. And the arrival of vaccines may improve the prospect of eventually reaching that type of broad immunity.
Schuette notes that immunity gained through a vaccine could differ from protections acquired through previous infection.
“Especially if you are asymptomatic or have very mild illness. We don’t know that you’re immune any longer than a little while after you’ve had COVID-19,” Schuette said.
Shasta County expects to receive about 4,100 doses of COVID-19 vaccines over the next couple of weeks.
State guidelines recommend that health care workers and nursing home residents receive the vaccine first.
To learn more about herd immunity nationwide, click HERE.