Dallas County has reached herd immunity, health experts say

Dallas County reaches herd immunity

Health experts believe Dallas County has what may be herd immunity from the coronavirus – an important milestone.

DALLAS - Health experts believe Dallas County has what may be herd immunity from the coronavirus – an important milestone.

Doctors at Parkland Hospital, who track the pandemic, said at least 80% of the people in Dallas County have immunity either from vaccination or a past infection.

About 46% of the population is fully vaccinated and about 48% has natural immunity after recovering from the virus.

But, Parkland said that does not mean it’s time to give up on vaccinations since people with natural immunity may not be able to fight off the newer strains.

"The Delta variant has further emphasized the urgency for all of us to get vaccinated because it is significantly more aggressive," said Steve Miff, CEO of Parkland Center For Clinical Innovation.

But experts said natural immunity does not last forever.

"While, on average, we reached 80%, and again, to be protected in the Delta variant, we might need to be 88% or higher. But even within our county, 45 zip codes are still below the 80%," Miff added.

In neighboring Tarrant County, vaccination numbers are slightly lower than Dallas County.

This week, the public health director said Tarrant County has the most covid patients in the Metroplex.

Their positivity rate is also increasing.

"We really need to be talking about vaccination rates. And with this new variant, we had been saying 80%, but now it could actually be much higher just because it's so much more infectious," said Dr. Trish Perl, chief of infectious disease at UT-Southwestern.

For months now, vaccinations have greatly diminished after the rush during the winter and the first part of spring.

Most of the large drive-thru sites are either closed or will close this month, and pop up location crowds aren’t large.

Perl and Miff agree that the only way out of this pandemic is for more people to get vaccinated.

Doctor weighs in on reaching COVID-19 herd immunity in Dallas County

Some experts say Dallas County is at herd immunity in the fight against COVID-19. That does not mean what some people think. Dr. Steve Miff is the president and CEO of the Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation, a nonprofit research group affiliated with the hospital. He's looked at the numbers and shares his conclusions with Good Day.

Which will increase the chances of herd immunity and to fend off the contagious Delta variant.

"What we do know is that those that have two doses of the vaccine fare very well," Miff said.

"Giddy up and get out and get your vaccine if you haven't. It's the best advice I can give you," Perl said.

The Centers for Disease Control said the highly contagious Delta variant is now the dominant strain of the coronavirus in the United States.

Experts said the vaccines available in the U.S. do offer protection from the Delta variant and are highly effective at preventing death and severe illness from the strain.