U.S. Hasn’t Reached Herd Immunity

Misbar’s investigation found that herd immunity takes place when a majority of people become infected, if that means that they are immune. 

For COVID-19, that percentage is likely 60-70%. According to the CDC, herd immunity is “a situation in which a sufficient proportion of a population is immune to an infectious disease (through vaccination and/or prior illness) to make its spread from person to person unlikely.”

The claim that the U.S. has reached herd immunity is likely based off of misinterpretation of a Johns Hopkins chart. The chart depicts test positivity rates, not how many people have been infected.

Further, scientists are not sure whether it is possible to become infected with COVID-19 twice, so even if the U.S. reached a 60-70% infection rate it is possible that still would not indicate herd immunity. It is thought that without a vaccine, the U.S. may never reach herd immunity against the coronavirus.