As the US has been tackling the COVID-19 pandemic, we are constantly looking out for ways to protect ourselves and others from the disease. Experts and news reporters have been talking a lot about reaching herd immunity, but what is it exactly?
Herd immunity is when a majority of the population is immune to a particular disease and, therefore, provides protection to those who have not yet developed immunity. Essentially, if 80% of the population is immune to the disease, 4 out of 5 people who interact with someone who is infected will not get sick. If they do not get sick, they cannot spread the disease to others and can keep it contained. About 50%-90% of the population needs to be immune before the number of cases will decline. The goal is to have as many people as possible be immune to the disease to provide protection.
How to reach herd immunity?
There are only two ways in which you can reach herd immunity. The first is natural resistance that occurs when people get sick. Once it passes, they have built up an immunity that will help them avoid contracting the sickness again. The unfortunate part of this method is that it can result in widespread illness and death. The second method is through vaccination, which essentially occurs by injecting you with what the body thinks to be a virus, but that does not get you sick – like a weakened virus or information that helps your body replicate the virus – and your body starts producing antibodies that will fight off the real virus in the future.
Challenges of Herd Immunity
The greatest challenge we are facing with COVID is that it is a new virus. That means that everyone will probably contract it at some point because there is no prior immunity to build on. Another challenge to reaching herd immunity would be that we are not completely sure how long the immunity will last. If it were to be compared to the flu vaccine, we would have at least a few months of security, but there is no guarantee.
Hopeful Future
With all the vaccination initiatives taking place, there is great hope that we will eventually reach herd immunity. To get the most effective results, we would want to continue masks and social distancing along with vaccinations. It keeps the ratio of those getting sick to those getting vaccinated pretty low, which is how we will reach protection. There are always going to be groups or areas where not everyone is vaccinated and that could lead to surges in virus cases, but as long as there are more people that are immune, then we should be well on our way to herd immunity.
Where We Stand in 2026
Years into living with COVID-19, many experts now argue that “herd immunity” may not even be the right framework for thinking about the virus anymore. Because the 70-80 percent vaccination threshold originally floated by epidemiologists applies to pathogens that don’t mutate rapidly, and COVID-19 continues to produce new variants, achieving a permanent, population-wide immunity “finish line” the way we did with diseases like measles isn’t realistic. According to Rochester Regional Health, the U.S. is likely at or near the roughly 70 percent immunity threshold once considered necessary, largely thanks to a mix of vaccination and prior infection, but because the virus keeps evolving, that protection isn’t static. Instead of chasing a single herd immunity number, public health guidance has shifted toward managing COVID-19 more like an ongoing, seasonal respiratory illness that requires periodic updates to stay protected.
Updated Vaccines and Ongoing Protection
That shift is reflected in how the vaccines themselves are updated each year. For fall 2026, the FDA recommended that COVID-19 vaccines be reformulated to target the JN.1-lineage variant XFG, based on ongoing review of circulating strains and vaccine effectiveness data. The World Health Organization also continues to track variant evolution on a rolling basis, with its vaccine composition advisory group meeting again in May 2026 to evaluate whether further updates are needed. As of 2026, updated boosters are generally recommended annually for adults over 65 and immunocompromised individuals, with most private insurance, Medicare, and Medicaid plans covering the cost at no out-of-pocket expense, making it easier for higher-risk groups to stay current as the virus continues to change.
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This article was updated on September 16, 2026 by Keana Lujan.