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I'm sure most of you have seen that NYTimes article about how the U.S. probably won't reach herd immunity, and so I did some ~digging bc the NYT loves to clickbait anxious people and then put articles behind paywalls. 
overwhelmingly, what I'm seeing are scientists decrying the idea that herd immunity was ever necessary in the first place. herd immunity is just *one* way to end a pandemic, it's not the only way.
the most likely way this pandemic will end (as we're seeing in California, the UK, Israel, etc etc) is through containment.
how do you contain a virus? vaccines "defang" the virus (aka make it so it can't kill) and lower circulation. low circulation allows for contact tracing.
how do you contain a virus? vaccines "defang" the virus (aka make it so it can't kill) and lower circulation. low circulation allows for contact tracing.
contact tracing allows for quarantine. quarantine ends transmission among unvaccinated. https://www.wsj.com/articles/herd-immunity-wont-save-usbut-we-can-still-beat-covid-19-11616770584
based on what we're seeing in Israel, the UK, and California, some scientists estimate that containment starts when around ~50% of the adult population has their first dose. death averages decline into the single digits and hospitalizations drop steadily. https://inews.co.uk/news/uk-covid-pandemic-over-endemic-difference-vaccine-coronavirus-oxford-professor-969538
seeing similar happen in California, especially major cities like LA and San Francisco. https://www.laweekly.com/l-a-county-recorded-zero-covid-19-deaths-sunday/
and we're seeing this happen in Minnesota right now!! about 59% of the adult population has had their first shot. 3 deaths recorded unty has yesterday. Mayo clinic estimates a 25% decline in hospitalizations in the next two weeks. https://m.startribune.com/minnesota-covid-19-hospitalizations-drop-below-600/600053038/
keep in mind that all of this is happening DESPITE variants circulating. why? because not a single current variant is resistant to the vaccines. the ones that challenge vaccine efficacy still aren't vaccine resistant or evasive. don't believe the clickbait!
and I say adult population bc all of the results we're seeing are without any vaccinations of children! Pfizer is on track to have authorization to vaccinate 12+ year olds in the next couple weeks... imagine how case numbers are gonna plummet then. 
so now is not the time to panic y'all. everything is still on track for containment. take a breath!
(a few typos bc I'm sipping wine lol my bad!!)
I didn't expect this response, I just make these threads to help my anxious friends know what's going on 
FOLLOW SCIENTISTS AND EXPERTS:
@MonicaGandhi9
@sailorrooscout
@KizzyPhD
@TracyBethHoeg
@VPrasadMDMPH
skip the NYT articles please. there's also great scientists on IG!
FOLLOW SCIENTISTS AND EXPERTS:
@MonicaGandhi9
@sailorrooscout
@KizzyPhD
@TracyBethHoeg
@VPrasadMDMPH
skip the NYT articles please. there's also great scientists on IG!
please don't follow me for covid information!! I only share research like this maybe once a week but otherwise I mostly talk about dismantling the prison industrial complex, my bookstore, my life, pop culture, anime, and memes ok I rarely use punctuation normally so pls don't 
