COVID-19

Can herd immunity really protect us from coronavirus?

A man, wearing a protective mask, walks through an empty street due to the coronavirus outbreak in central Madrid, Spain, March 14, 2020.

Herd immunity is being discussed as a potential strategy to combat the coronavirus, COVID-19. Image: REUTERS/Sergio Perez

Jeremy Rossman
Honorary Senior Lecturer in Virology and President of Research-Aid Networks, University of Kent
Share:
Our Impact
The Big Picture
Explore and monitor how COVID-19 is affecting economies, industries and global issues
A hand holding a looking glass by a lake
Crowdsource Innovation
Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale
Stay up to date:

COVID-19

Have you read?
A chart showing how herd immunity works, in the context of immunisations.
How herd immunity works, in the context of immunisations. Image: The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID)
Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

Sign up for free

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Related topics:
COVID-19Global HealthHealth and HealthcareTrade and Investment
Share:
World Economic Forum logo
Global Agenda

The Agenda Weekly

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

Subscribe today

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.

Here’s what to know about the new COVID-19 Pirola variant

Lora du Moulin and Charlotte Edmond

October 11, 2023

About Us

Events

Media

Partners & Members

  • Join Us

Language Editions

Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

© 2023 World Economic Forum