Yuma Sun e-Edition

Statistics show toll COVID has taken in U.S.

Each vaccine helps Yuma climb toward herd immunity

We have a choice to make readers. We can choose to protect our families and those around us … or not. All we have to do is get the COVID-19 vaccination.

New statistics released this week illustrate why this matters.

According to John Hopkins University data, one out of every 500 Americans has died of COVID-19.

“With its 662,899th death, America on Tuesday reported a toll equal to 0.2 percent of the people who answered the 2020 Census, near the beginning of the pandemic,” USA Today reports.

And half of the deaths have occurred since two days before Christmas 2020, USA Today notes.

Across the country, there have been more than 41.3 million confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic.

COVID is particularly hard on the elderly and those with compromised immune systems, but this virus doesn’t discriminate. It can be potentially deadly to anyone of any age, and we’ve seen countless stories across the nation of perfectly healthy people who got COVID, didn’t have the vaccine, and did not survive.

We’ve also seen story after story of the longterm effects of COVID, which can be a wrecking ball on one’s body – and there is no way to know what impact it will have on you.

On the bright side, we have a COVID vaccine now. Yet in Yuma County, just 55.2% of our population has taken advantage of it – which we simply don’t understand.

The COVID vaccine isn’t a silver bullet. It’s a layer of protection that will reduce the risk of people getting sick or severely sick, but the effectiveness is not 100%.

But it does help reduce the rates of virus transmission, and that matters. It protects you, and it protects those around you.

And in many ways, we have an ethical responsibility to get vaccinated. Each vaccination contributes to the collective herd immunity, helping our population reach that elusive goal, protecting one another from this virus.

Ultimately, the benefits of the COVID vaccine far outweigh the risks of either the vaccine or COVID itself.

It’s worth getting the shots and protecting our community.

If you’ve not yet done so, please – find a walkin clinic or schedule your appointment today.

Opinion

en-us

2021-09-16T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-09-16T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://yumasun.pressreader.com/article/281651078238052

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