BOISE, Idaho — More than 380,000 Idahoans have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. By May, all adult Idahoans will be eligible to receive the vaccine, which health experts say is needed to achieve herd immunity.
Herd immunity occurs when enough members of a community are immune to the virus and, therefore, cannot spread it from person to person. For herd immunity to be reached in Idaho, 70-80% of the population must be inoculated, according to Primary Health CEO and Idaho COVID-19 Vaccine Advisory Committee member Dr. David Peterman.
Primary Health provides care to about 70,000 patients, in addition to providing the COVID-19 vaccine to eligible Idahoans. However, only 30% of people age 55 years or older have made a vaccine appointment with Primary Health.
At this rate, Peterman does not believe Idaho will achieve herd immunity anytime soon.
“25% of Idaho's population are children and at this point, we’re not vaccinating children,” he said. “So in that regard, we really need to have a higher percentage of adults vaccinated.”
Only 17% of Idahoans have been fully vaccinated. 10% of Idahoans have received their first dose, but 73% of the state remains unvaccinated.
Additionally, Peterman worries the recently emerged COVID-19 variant first discovered in the U.K. will also hinder the race towards herd immunity.
“In the last four to five weeks we've had a significant rise in the identification of certain coronaviruses as the variant,” he added.
More than 60 million vaccine doses have been administered in the U.S., but Peterman claims that confidence in the vaccine is too low, which is not helping achieve herd immunity.
“These are highly-studied and highly-safe vaccines, and for various reasons, the public here in Idaho are not taking advantage of the availability of vaccinations,” he said. “So I strongly urge those people in those particular age groups to get vaccinated.”
Those aged 55 years and older are now eligible to receive a vaccine. The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare (IDHW) will be able to provide all Idaho adults with a vaccine by April 26.
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