whole world breathed a huge sigh of relief -  finally, the end to the pandemic was in sight.

But it's been months since then, and while  some social restrictions have lessened,  

we're still in a pandemic. So, what gives? How  long until things really get back to normal?

That actually depends on you. Well, not  just you, but everyone that is able to  

get a Covid-19 vaccine. Because that's our  best, and fastest, way out of this thing.  

A large majority of covid 19 deaths in the united  states are coming from those who are unvaccinated.

You see, a pandemic doesn't end until  the virus is no longer widespread.  

And to slow or even stop it from spreading, the  vast majority of people need to become immune.

Immunity can happen either by getting and  surviving the illness or by getting a vaccine.,,,  

In both scenarios, your body creates the  antibodies necessary to fight it off.  

And once enough people have developed an  immunity, we get what's called herd immunity.

This protects not just those who are immune,  but people who are unable to get a vaccine  

or are unlikely to survive the illness, like  newborns or people who are immunocompromised.  

This is because, if lots of people are immune,  the virus has less opportunity to spread,  

making it unlikely for those who  aren't immune to encounter it.

We've seen this happen for diseases like measles,  

smallpox, and polio, where vaccines helped  to establish a herd immunity and have either  

eliminated the disease completely - like polio and  smallpox - or make it very rare - like measles.,

The amount of people that need to be immune for  herd immunity to work varies depending on how  

contagious the virus is, which is measured by how  many people an infected individual can infect.,

For example, measles is very contagious, so it  needs a high number of people to be immune for  

herd immunity to kick in - between 90 and 95% of  the population. For Covid-19, estimates range from  

70 to 90% of the population, though this could  change if more contagious variants emerge.,

These high percentages are why vaccines are  so important and why experts are strongly  

advocating for people to get a Covid-19 vaccine  and not to rely on infection to become immune.,  

Even if you've had Covid-19, they still recommend  that you get vaccinated to increase your immunity.  

In fact, herd immunity has never been achieved  for any major infectious disease like Covid-19  

without vaccination. If we didn't have a  vaccine, the virus would continue to spread,  

cause unnecessary infections and deaths,  keep mutating, and become harder to control.,

So far, as of June 2021, world vaccination  numbers are pretty low. In some countries,  

over 50% of their population has received at  least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine - the  

United States, for instance, just reached  this number. But the majority of countries  

have a much lower percentage and worldwide only  10% of people have gotten at least one dose.  

I know some people are nervous about getting the  vaccine, but if this helps even a little bit,  

Triangle Bob got the vaccine  and nothing bad happen to him,  

and if you watch Life Noggin you know that bad  things always happen to him! But yeah, he's fine!

So, if you are already vaccinated,  

THANK YOU for helping us all get this pandemic  under control. And if you are not vaccinated yet,  

please please please get vaccinated to help  get the numbers up, stop the spread - and  

mutations - of the virus and get things back to  normal. I personally really miss Ronbus' parties,  

they are wild! I mean -i mean 8 layer dip?  That's just - That's too much! but what  

are your plans once the world is vaccinated?  What are you really looking forward to doing?

Thank you so much to our  friends over at Vaccinate LA  

and Hollywood Health and Society  for sponsoring this video!

For more information on how to get vaccinated,  visit the website on the screen here.