How to Use herd immunity in a Sentence

herd immunity

noun
  • Five years ago, about half of the state's kindergarten classes had herd immunity.
    — Stephanie Innes, AZCentral.com, 9 June 2025
  • The real lesson was that herd immunity works.
    — Deborah L. Birx, STAT, 5 Jan. 2026
  • No kindergarten classes in any of those three counties had herd immunity from measles this academic year.
    — Stephanie Innes, AZCentral.com, 9 June 2025
  • Research also shows that vaccines help build herd immunity and protect the body against disease.
    — Solcyré Burga, TIME, 16 July 2024
  • Officials also said the metro falls short of having herd immunity from the disease.
    — Pj Green, Kansas City Star, 19 Apr. 2025
  • This is lower than the 95% threshold needed to achieve herd immunity.
    — Mary Kekatos, ABC News, 1 May 2026
  • Only 17% of charter school kindergartens had herd immunity last school year.
    — The Arizona Republic, 22 July 2024
  • Experts said once herd immunity drops below 95 percent, the risks of an outbreak grow.
    — Jared Gans, The Hill, 3 Nov. 2025
  • When vaccination rates fall, herd immunity is lost.
    — CBS News, 12 Dec. 2025
  • Parents could no longer reliably count on herd immunity to keep newborns too young to vaccinate safe from the disease.
    — Corinne Purtill, Los Angeles Times, 25 Apr. 2025
  • Every crank needs a foil, just as every vaccine skeptic benefits from herd immunity.
    — Michael Tedder, The Atlantic, 15 Mar. 2026
  • 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 percentage of a community that needs to be immune to achieve herd immunity varies from disease to disease.
    — Karen Pallarito, Health, 20 Jan. 2024
  • To reach herd immunity, and prevent outbreaks, 95 percent of children must have both doses.
    — Stephanie Nolen, New York Times, 25 Nov. 2023
  • This is most effectively done by achieving what is known as herd immunity through vaccinations.
    — Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA Today, 5 Sep. 2025
  • Many more people would get infected, but this would assist the development of herd immunity.
    — Alice Park, TIME, 20 Mar. 2025
  • When Kennedy spreads fear, parents become fearful and often refuse vaccines, and herd immunity begins to crack.
    — Letters To The Editor, The Orlando Sentinel, 16 Apr. 2026
  • Measles was all but eliminated and herd immunity achieved across multiple diseases.
    — Katie Silver, NPR, 28 Mar. 2026
  • 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
  • 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
  • Below that threshold, a community's herd immunity can begin to erode.
    — Maria Godoy, NPR, 9 May 2025
  • Smallpox was endemic among the British giving them a natural herd immunity to the illness.
    — John Laycock, Baltimore Sun, 27 Dec. 2024
  • Under this threshold, herd immunity can no longer limit spread enough to protect the unvaccinated.
    — Sarah Zhang, The Atlantic, 7 Apr. 2025
  • And herd immunity is achieved at a vaccination rate of between 93 and 95 percent.
    — CBS News, 23 Feb. 2025
  • But once herd immunity is achieved, individual parents may decide that not vaccinating is the less risky option for their kid.
    — Avi Dor, The Conversation, 5 June 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
  • 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
  • This collective shield, known as herd immunity, is not automatic or enduring; it has been built over decades through high vaccination rates.
    — Dr. Jerome Adams, CNN, 20 Mar. 2025
  • Medical experts put the vaccination herd immunity rate for measles at around 95%.
    — Joseph States, Chicago Tribune, 12 June 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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