community immunity

noun

: herd immunity

Encouraging our families, friends and neighbors to get vaccinated adds layers of protection and helps us create community immunity.

—Larry Antonucci

There is a level of vaccination that is needed to protect a community from an outbreak of disease. This is called "herd immunity" and sometimes, "community immunity."

—Erica Parker

Examples of community immunity in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Science has shown that a population can reach community immunity, also known as herd immunity, once a certain percentage of the group is vaccinated. —Tribune News Service, The Mercury News, 27 May 2024

Herd Immunity Definition Herd immunity—or community immunity—occurs when enough people in a population are immune to a disease. —Karen Pallarito, Health, 20 Jan. 2024

Even at their peak, hospitalization numbers this summer did not reach the heights seen in prior surges — a development health officials credited to widespread community immunity through vaccines and previous infection. —Rong-Gong Lin Ii, Los Angeles Times, 10 Oct. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1915, in the meaning defined above