As COVID-19 vaccinations ramp up, when could North Carolina achieve herd immunity?

"If you have the opportunity to get the vaccine -- get the vaccine today," said Dr. Tony Moody, a Duke Health professor of pediatrics.

Moody said that nearly 80 percent of people must be fully vaccinated to get the state where it needs to be.

To have ideal herd immunity, vaccines will need to successfully cut down transmission and infection rates will have to continue to drop.

"This idea that you're getting a sufficient level of immunity in the population so you don't see the virus jumping from person to person is really the goal," said Moody.

Moody added that it could take months to get the state vaccinated.

A major concerning for reaching herd immunity is variants of the virus. While experts, like Moody, believe vaccines will cover them to an extent, Centers for Disease Control director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said she doesn't want to give people false hope.

"Please hear me clearly. At this level of cases with variants spreading, we stand to completely lose the hard earned ground we have gained. These variants are a very real threat to our people and our progress," said Walensky in a White House Coronavirus Task Force briefing.

Moody said that while the state is heading in the right direction, masks and social distancing will be the new normal for a while. He added that masks could be a part of our culture moving forward.

"Not as in everyone running around with masks," he explained. "I'm hopeful that people will say, 'I have the sniffles today. Maybe I should wear a mask, not to protect myself but to protect others.' That's what we see in other countries and I hope to see that here."