The Synergy Project Magazine - September 2020

percent effective, then out of every
one-hundred people, only sixty would
be safe from infection. The other forty
remain vulnerable even after reception,
unfortunately sustaining the risk for an
unprecedented spike in cases.
To organize members of a
community, epidemiologists may label
residents as one of three conditions:
contagious, susceptible, or immunized.
Those who are contagious have
contracted the virus and can spread it
to susceptible citizens. This relationship
allowed the SARS-CoV-2 strain to rage
across the globe. Individuals who
have received an immunization are
contrastingly incapable of hosting the
virus. This is because they possess
antibodies, which the CDC defines as
“proteins that help fight off infections
and...provide protection against
getting [a particular] disease again…”
Antibodies are present in vaccines,
and are disease specific. This means
they directly attack the virus we deploy
them to respond to, conceivably
eradicating COVID from the patient’s
body.
Based on the status of each
community, researchers can then
determine the chances for “herd
immunity.” This term describes an
indirect defense against an infectious
disease such as COVID. If achieved, it
can prevent the spread in a specific
area without further intervention.
When a fit person without pre-existing
conditions (a prime candidate for
recovery) catches COVID-19, self
isolates, and returns to health, they join
the herd. As more and more patients
rehabilitate, the presence of antibodies
increases. Although research is unsure
if at-risk people can contract COVID
more than once, for the sake of
explanation, it can be assumed that
once an individual enters the herd,
they remain a part of it.
To illustrate, imagine there is an
infected person within a group. That
person, the host, traces the virus to four
other people, who in turn contaminate
four more people each, like a pyramid
scheme. Now, there are twenty-one
contagious residents. Now, instead,
imagine that three of the four original
recipients have received a vaccine. The
transmission of the virus to an immune
individual, in theory, blocks the chain
of exposure at that point. Since none of
those people will contract the virus to
extend to others, it will only infect six in
the long run rather than twenty-one. If
enough people become immunized, it
would slow the spread to a minimum,
therefore demonstrating herd immunity.
This scenario is exactly what
experts are hoping for with the rise of
a potential vaccine. So, how “good”
does it have to be to foster this
outcome? A study from the American
Journal of Preventive Medicine says
at least seventy to eighty percent
effective, as opposed to the flu
vaccine, which is about twenty to sixty
percent by comparison. Still, tackling
the coronavirus must continue to be
a team effort. While companies and
universities work tirelessly to provide
a successful and safe solution, society
must comply with social distancing,
mask mandates and stay-at-home
orders in their local factions. By
respecting what proves to flatten the
curve, the world can welcome what will
become the new normal.
Works Cited:
1. Corum, Jonathan, et al. “Coronavirus Vaccine
Tracker.” The New York Times, The New
York Times, 10 June 2020, www.nytimes.
com/interactive/2020/science/coronavirusvaccine-tracker.html.
2. (Image) Coston, Michael. “GAO: A Herd
Immunity For COVID-19 Primer”. Avian
Flu Diary. 9 July 2020, https://afludiary.
blogspot.com/2020/07/gao-herd-immunityfor-covid-19-primer.html.
3. Lee, Bruce Y. “How ‘Good’ Does a COVID-19
Coronavirus Vaccine Need to Be to
Stop the Pandemic? A New Study Has
Answers.” Medical Xpress - Medical
Research Advances and Health News,
Medical Xpress, 15 July 2020, https://
medicalxpress.com/news/2020-07-goodcovid-coronavirus-vaccine-pandemic.html.
4. “Test for Past Infection.” Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, 11 Feb.
2020, www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-
ncov/testing/serology-overview.html.
5. “What is Herd Immunity?” YouTube, uploaded
by Microbiology Society, 7 February
2017, https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=cEn1PKyBUNc
6. “What is Herd Immunity?” YouTube, uploaded
by The Royal College of Pathologists, 12
February 2020, https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=tC47JjakPSA.
THE SYNERGY PROJECT MAGAZINE 19