Take a Shot

While it may feel to a majority of the population that the long nightmare that was the COVID-19 pandemic is over, the disease continued to rear its head this summer with a spike in infection rates and increased hospitalization numbers that could worsen this fall.

It’s a reminder that, as a society, we’ll most likely never be done with the deadly SARS-CoV-2 virus, in some form or another. Just like with its cousins, the influenza viruses that cause the annual seasonal flu outbreaks, care to prevent infection always will be necessary.

That most likely translates into an annual COVID vaccination, designed, like the yearly flu shot, to target whichever strains of the virus are expected to be prevalent in a given year.

Changing its tack, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention earlier this month made a simple recommendation, that everyone over 6 months old get the newest vaccination against COVID-19. Rather than set a bunch of confusing parameters, as it has done in the past, highlighting at-risk groups, people of certain ages or those working in specific public-facing fields, the agency is recommending a single shot for everyone.

The broad recommendation was intended to send a more clear message than in the past, when certain groups were targeted. The recommendation — and a move to a single shot instead of multiple boosters — was meant to encourage everyone to get back on the vaccination bandwagon after a dismal 17 percent of those eligible got the last booster in 2022.

Some have argued that while the new booster is critical for those at the highest risk, regularly immunizing younger and healthy people who may be able to withstand an infection better could be unnecessary or a waste of resources. With the number of deaths in decline (but not, it must be noted, going all the way to zero), there is room for medical professionals to offer individualized advice. Perhaps, in some young, healthy people, the rare risk of side effects from the vaccine will be seen as greater than any prophylactic benefit.

But it’s important to remember that the spread of the virus is best curtailed by a high inoculation rate in a community. The National Institutes of Health have said that reaching herd immunity — the tipping point where the virus has so few vulnerable bodies to infect that it begins to die out — requires 75 to 85 of the population to be vaccinated. In this deeply divided nation, that seems like an impossible goal. But the closer we get, the more we keep COVID in check.

While the nation saw a 22 percent jump in hospital admissions and fatalities at the close of the summer due to the recent spike in COVID transmission, the numbers on the East End were significantly lower — and it was directly attributed by medical experts to the high vaccination rate here.

South Fork residents, with the help of local officials and community groups, banded together during the worst of the pandemic to make vaccinations more accessible to those who wanted them, and to encourage those who weren’t sure about them to get inoculated.

And it worked. Infection rates — and severe reactions to the virus — were kept in check, compared to other areas of the country where vaccination rates were lower.

The same effort and sense of community should be employed now to encourage everyone in the community to follow the CDC recommendation and get the new booster. Those who are young and healthy and feel they may better endure an infection would do well to think of their neighbors who would struggle with COVID. The more people who are vaccinated will result in smaller spikes in infections and less chance that our most vulnerable will be exposed.

That same logic should also apply to annual flu shots and vaccinations against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which is expected to circulate heavily this fall and winter. The three combined could mark a “tripledemic,” one best combated with vaccinations.

While it may feel like the war on COVID has been won, the sad truth is that we will continue to wage battles, large and small, against the disease that darkened so many doors over the past three and a half years, for years to come. The best way to arm ourselves for those fights is for everyone to get on the same page and renew their vaccinations, to protect not only themselves but the community as well.