Flint Township View

Have you “Herd”?


Today the word “herd” has kind of a double entendre or at least ambiguous connotation. In this country, folks take great pride in their ability to “be themselves” with individualism and freedoms that are not matched in any other part of the world. Yet, today we pursue (some hesitatingly), the Herd Immunity that is really the only way we can return to some form of the normal that we used to take for granted.

Like it or not, you need to join the “herd”, to no longer be part of one. In fact, it’s the only path to get your freedoms back! It takes between 80 and 95 percent of the population (in other words everybody) to be vaccinated, to make COVID-19 (doesn’t everyone hate that phrase by now) become a phrase the kids of today won’t even remember.

There is a significant hitch on the immunity path, however. The reality is that although the vaccines are being administered at a speedy pace, the population of folks that are the highest distributors of the virus itself are only beginning to be vaccinated.

There are a couple points that are providing a false sense of security for that group. One is that vaccines are being provided to the most vulnerable and health care workers first, and the other is that the economic and other controls have been or are in the process of being lifted almost everywhere. You must have noticed the increase in volume in the stores and on the roads. I was at a large local car dealership the other day and there were unmasked people everywhere

The reality is that for the large majority of active folks who distribute the virus itself (including the new variants), nothing has really changed from the “shut down” times. They have not been vaccinated (for the most part) yet, but many are anxious to, and returning to, their pre-shutdown activities. And in fact, the cases are now rising at worrisome rates

We cannot spoil all the effort put forth by the governor and the accelerated science that has steered us to this point, when just a few more months of precautions can change everything. Fool you twice, shame on who? — Bud Meyers, Grand Blanc Township