When will the US reach herd immunity — and what will it look like?

When will the US reach herd immunity — and what will it look like?

 

Herd immunity doesn’t necessarily mean that the virus gets completely eradicated, or even that everyone will be immune to the virus. But right now scientists estimate the percentage of people we need immunized to reach herd immunity is somewhere between 70% and 80%.   As millions of Americans get vaccinated each day, and with estimates that more than a quarter of the US population may already have natural immunity from previous infections, we have been slowly getting closer to this goal.  However, new variants, vaccine hesitancy and human behavior make achieving herd immunity challenging — and even more difficult for experts to predict.   In the meantime, Dr. Chris Murray, director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, believes the simple act of getting vaccines into arms is going to make the biggest impact.   “If we can move from 25% of the population not being vaccinated to 10%, that really boosts herd immunity way up. Even if variants aren't as bad as we fear, it's still going to be pretty close, and vaccinating over the tipping point would make a huge difference,” Murray says.   For more on Murray’s take on herd immunity, listen to my Coronavirus: Fact vs Fiction podcast.