In recent days and perhaps weeks, Americans who have refused to get vaccinated for COVID-19 have caused this disease to spike in all 50 states, thus causing them or some of their local communities to have to decide to curtail recent efforts to reopen their economies. For example, last week the largest populated county in the U.S., Los Angelos County, reimposed both mask-wearing and social distancing at indoor gatherings. And these new measures are proliferating in other renewed hot spots around the country. It is being done because infection cases, hospitalizations, and deaths from COVID-19 are increasing after several months of having decreased.
This third or fourth wave of COVID-19 is due almost entirely to new variants of the disease. The Delta variant, which originated in India earlier this year, is the one that is spreading throughout the U.S. Thus, almost all of this recent spike here is due to the Delta variant. Fortunately, most of the vaccines have potency against these variants. Although this Delta variant is so far less lethal than the original COVID-19, it is considerably more contagious. Florida, which has been lax in its restrictions against COVID-19, is now experiencing 20 per cent of all Delta variants.
These U.S. resurgencies of the virus are occurring more in states governed more by Republicans, such as Florida, than Democrats since Republicans have not taken the virus as seriously as Democrats have. But there are other variants that are spreading elsewhere in the world. The Beta variant, which originated in South Africa, is now spreading throughout Europe. It is causing the UK and France to reimpose restrictions after having begun a reopening last month. Certain travelers entering those countries are now having to quarantine for up to ten days. And that is only one of several restrictions being imposed in various countries.
Health authorities had warned that if herd immunity had not been achieved by this summer, COVID-19 could mutate to form variants that would emerge to further threaten health. That is exactly what is now happening. And it is almost entirely due to people in wealthy countries, such as the U.S., refusing to be vaccinated and thereby making herd immunity impossible to achieve. Experts say it takes 70-80 per cent of a nation’s population to have antibodies to this disease in order to achieve what they call “herd immunity,” making it nearly impossible for the disease to continue ravaging a population. Polls have shown that at least 30 per cent of Americans have said they will not be vaccinated for COVID-19. See my post, “Non-Vaxxers Are Selfish.”
The sad thing about this is that these vaccinations for COVID-19 are readily available and free of monetary charge in wealthy countries, such as the U.S., because federal governments have paid many billions of dollars for them. Yet these vaccines are anything but readily available in poor nations, such as almost all of Africa. In some of them, less than 1 per cent of its population has been vaccinated for COVID-19, whereas just over 50 per cent of the U.S. population has now received at least one vaccination shot (some vaccines require two shots spaced about one month apart). The best vaccines have been preventing about 95 per cent of their recipients from contracting this virus due to the antibodies it provides which fight it off. [See my book, Moses Predicted COVID-19.] 
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