Herd immunity is a term and phenomenon that was discovered relatively recently, in the 1920s, when A.W. Hedrich observed that after a certain number of children became immune to measles, there were less new infections.  This practice was further analyzed in the 1960s during the smallpox outbreak, where the concept of “ring vaccination”,  vaccinating people around an infected person in order to prevent future outbreaks, was developed.  

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The amount of people that need to develop antibodies against a disease is directly correlated with the contagiousness of the disease.  If the disease is highly contagious, then more people need to develop antibodies for herd immunity to occur [1].  Once it does, the most vulnerable individuals in the community are generally protected from the disease, as well as everyone else.  Although the COVID-19 pandemic has provided grounds for many people to get engaged and to learn more about their health and wellbeing, there are still many misconceptions, among which is herd immunity.  

 

The aim of this study is to determine views of people from various age categories regarding the topic of herd immunity.  To achieve this, a survey was sent out to a wide range of people with varying demographics to ascertain their views on herd immunity.  To educate individuals about herd immunity, it is first essential to determine the many varying viewpoints and to find and address any potential misconceptions and myths regarding this concept.