herd immunity
Safety in numbers
Herd immunity is the resistance to disease that emerges when enough members of a population become immune—through vaccination or prior infection—that the disease can no longer spread easily.
Those who aren't immune benefit from the protection of those around them.
The threshold varies by disease: measles requires about 95% immunity, while less contagious diseases need less.
Once we reach herd immunity, outbreaks become rare.
Point of beginning
- transmissionSending of information
- outbreakSudden eruption of trouble
- pandemicGlobal disease outbreak
- infectionPathogen invasion causing illness
contagion · epidemic · endemic · susceptibility · prevalence · incidence · pathogen · virulence
Injection conferring disease resistance
- vaccineDisease prevention injection
- boostersThings that increase power
- dosesMeasured medicinal amounts
- coverageExtent of inclusion
uptake · campaign · mandate · rollout · mass vaccination · vaccine hesitancy · vaccine efficacy · antibodies
Protecting from harm
- safeguardPrecaution against harm
- barrierObstruction preventing passage
- defenseProtection against harm
- resistanceCapacity to withstand force
Collective of connected people
- collectiveJointly organized group
- populationAll inhabitants combined
- groupAssembled collection of things
- societyOrganized communal human existence
public health · demographics · density · social networks · subgroups · clusters · unvaccinated · vaccinated
threshold
Point of beginning
- transmissionSending of information
- outbreakSudden eruption of trouble
- pandemicGlobal disease outbreak
infection · contagion · epidemic · endemic · susceptibility · prevalence · incidence · pathogen · virulence · morbidity
inoculation
Injection conferring disease resistance
- vaccineDisease prevention injection
- boostersThings that increase power
- dosesMeasured medicinal amounts
coverage · uptake · campaign · mandate · rollout · mass vaccination · vaccine hesitancy · vaccine efficacy · antibodies · antigens
shielding
Protecting from harm
resistance · buffer · vulnerable populations · immunocompromised
community
Collective of connected people
- collectiveJointly organized group
- populationAll inhabitants combined
- groupAssembled collection of things
society · public health · demographics · density · social networks · subgroups · clusters · unvaccinated · vaccinated · critical mass
- health measuressocial distancing, contact tracing, quarantine, self-isolation, lockdowns
- immunity typesantibodies, vaccines, disease resistance, antitoxins, white blood cells
- global healthdisease, pandemic, World Health Organization, medications, pandemics
- pandemiclockdowns, COVID-19, outbreak, epidemic, COVID
- public healthdisease prevention, disease control, health education, epidemiology, community health
- vaccinationvaccine, vaccines, shot, shots, inoculation
herd immunitynatural immunity
Acquired resistance through exposure
innate immunity · active immunity · passive immunity · vaccination · self-protection
herd, immune, immunity, herding, herder, herded, immunize, herders, immunization