How to Use herd immunity in a Sentence

herd immunity

noun
  • In communities that fail to meet the high threshold for herd immunity, the virus spreads easily and quickly.
    — Saima S. Iqbal, Scientific American, 26 Sep. 2024
  • That sounds high but measles is so contagious that a vaccination rate of at least 95% is required for herd immunity.
    — Amy Feldman, Forbes, 12 Mar. 2025
  • The state's goal is for every school to have at least 95% of the student population vaccinated to achieve herd immunity.
    — Alayna Alvarez, Axios, 13 Aug. 2024
  • Research also shows that vaccines help build herd immunity and protect the body against disease.
    — Solcyré Burga, TIME, 16 July 2024
  • The percentage of a community that needs to be immune to achieve herd immunity varies from disease to disease.
    — Karen Pallarito, Health, 20 Jan. 2024
  • Only 17% of charter school kindergartens had herd immunity last school year.
    — The Arizona Republic, 22 July 2024
  • To reach herd immunity, and prevent outbreaks, 95 percent of children must have both doses.
    — Stephanie Nolen, New York Times, 25 Nov. 2023
  • Smallpox was endemic among the British giving them a natural herd immunity to the illness.
    — John Laycock, Baltimore Sun, 27 Dec. 2024
  • Fast forward two years and the brand loyalty has faded, herd immunity has taken hold, and staying up to date on your vaccines can be confusing.
    — Rachel Murphy, Verywell Health, 30 Nov. 2023
  • It was discovered in the Netherlands in 2001 but is believed to have circulated long before then—so people all over the world already have some herd immunity.
    — Daniel R. Depetris, Newsweek, 10 Jan. 2025
  • More states are hitting a threshold of under 95% for the MMR vaccine specifically, which is required for herd immunity.
    — Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA TODAY, 27 Feb. 2025
  • Achieving herd immunity to limit the spread of disease depends on collective effort, but many see it as a personal choice.
    — Barbara A. Perry, Newsweek, 27 Jan. 2025
  • This is lower than the 95 percent vaccination rate required for herd immunity, according to the CDC.
    — Matt Robison, Newsweek, 18 Feb. 2025
  • That is below the 95% vaccination threshold health experts say is needed for herd immunity against measles.
    — Michelle Marchante, Miami Herald, 22 Feb. 2024
  • China would need to vaccinate 70 to 80 percent of its population in order to meet the requirements of herd immunity.
    — Yanzhong Huang, Foreign Affairs, 11 Mar. 2021
  • As for Makary, his most infamous take involved a February 2021 prediction that the United States would reach herd immunity within two months.
    — Benjamin Mazer, The Atlantic, 25 Nov. 2024
  • Many more people would get infected, but this would assist the development of herd immunity.
    — Alice Park, TIME, 20 Mar. 2025
  • Health officials said 95% immunization is necessary for a population to reach herd immunity and stop the spread of measles.
    — Isabel Funk, USA TODAY, 4 Sep. 2024
  • The World Health Organization says there needs to be at least 95% of vaccination in a population for herd immunity.
    — Michelle Marchante, Miami Herald, 27 Feb. 2024
  • That’s because the country has a good amount of herd immunity, either from vaccination, previous infections, or both.
    — Michelle Marchante, Miami Herald, 11 July 2024
  • The economic argument behind only vaccinating girls against HPV has rested on the idea that men will benefit by proxy through herd immunity.
    — Grace Browne, WIRED, 20 Oct. 2023
  • His nominee for secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, pushed for herd immunity in May 2020 and encouraged anti-lockdown protests.
    — Benjamin Mazer, The Atlantic, 25 Nov. 2024
  • The classical definition of herd immunity has been completely turned upside down by Covid.
    — David Wallace-Wells, New York Times, 24 Apr. 2023
  • Trained as a surgeon and cancer specialist, Makary was part of a vocal group of physicians calling for greater emphasis on herd immunity to stop the virus, or the idea that mass infections would quickly lead to population-level protection.
    — CBS News, 22 Nov. 2024
  • Ultimately, both Kennedy and much of unvaccinated America are receiving a crash course on the topic of herd immunity.
    — Dr. Jerome Adams, CNN, 20 Mar. 2025
  • For Measles, herd immunity occurs when 95% of the population is vaccinated.
    — Omer Awan, Forbes, 22 Dec. 2024
  • The current measles outbreaks demonstrate the importance of herd immunity—a vaccinated person is highly affected by the vaccination status of those around them.
    — Ripley Cleghorn, Scientific American, 20 Mar. 2025
  • Utah's vaccination rates fall far below the 95% needed for herd immunity against highly contagious illnesses like measles.
    — Erin Alberty, Axios, 17 Sep. 2024
  • The World Health Organization considers 95% the threshold necessary for herd immunity from measles.
    — Katie Mogg, NBC News, 20 Feb. 2024
  • When herd immunity wanes, the risk of infection rises for everyone – and especially for the most vulnerable, such as young children and people who are immunocompromised.
    — Daniel Pastula, The Conversation, 28 Feb. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'herd immunity.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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