As of April 26th, 41.2% of South Carolina residents have gotten at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine and 30.2% have completed their vaccination. Without a vaccine, experts estimate that in the U.S., 70% of the population — more than 200 million people — would have to recover from COVID-19 to halt the pandemic. This number of infected people in the United States would quickly overwhelm our health system. The Covid vaccines offer a way to reach herd immunity without relying on infections in the general population. While the actual percentage of the population needed to reach herd immunity via vaccinations is not known, experts feel it to be between 70-80%.

While getting a vaccine is a personal choice, the vaccines have proven to be incredibly effective and safe. Here is a great piece by Prisma Health dispelling several misconceptions surrounding the Covid-19 vaccines.