Public Health

242.2 Million More Americans Need to Get The Covid-19 Vaccine to Reach Herd Immunity

Mira Research Team
Mira Research Team9 Feb 2021
Quick Digest: 
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What does herd immunity mean?
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Why can’t we just wait until we are all naturally infected with Covid-19?
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How many people need to be vaccinated in order to reach herd immunity?
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When can we expect to achieve herd immunity? 
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How close are we to achieving herd immunity?
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Written by Jacqueline Slobin, University of Virginia & Spencer Lee, New York University

 

Quick Digest: 

  • Herd immunity occurs when a large percentage of a population is immune to a disease, making its spread within that population highly unlikely.
  • We need at least 75% of the United States population to be immune to COVID-19 in order to achieve herd immunity and return to normalcy.
  • So far, only 5.3 million Americans have received the Covid-19 vaccine. We will need at least 242.2 million more people to get vaccinated in the coming months for the pandemic to end.

 

What does herd immunity mean?

The World Health Organization defines herd immunity, also known as population immunity, as the indirect protection from an infectious disease that occurs when a population is immune to the disease itself through vaccination or from past infection. 

In other words, herd immunity is the immunity conferred on members of a population when the majority of the population has been vaccinated or already has some immunity because they have been previously infected with the disease. 

When herd immunity is achieved, disease transmission slows or stops completely because members of the population are unable to infect each other. 

Herd immunity against COVID-19 should be achieved by protecting people through widespread vaccination efforts, NOT exposing them to the pathogen that causes the disease. 

In the United States, two vaccines have received FDA-approval: Pfizer and Moderna. Herd immunity will depend on the number of people able and willing to receive these vaccinations. 

Source: Oxford Vaccine Group

 

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Mira Research Team

The Mira Research team conducts original data and medical research on the most applicable topics of today and translates them into easy-to-understand articles to educate the public. Each of our articles is carefully reviewed and curated with interviews and opinions from medical experts, public health officials, and experienced administrators. The team has educational backgrounds from New York University, the University of Virginia, more.

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