San Francisco might have reached herd immunity


San Francisco's average of 13.7 new COVID-19 infections per day "is what herd immunity looks like," Dr. George Rutherford, a professor of epidemiology at the University of California, San Francisco, told The Guardian.
Rutherford is one of several experts who believe San Francisco is the first major U.S. city to achieve the long sought-after goal. "You're going to have single cases, but they're not going to propagate out," he said.
It's not entirely clear what the actual threshold is for herd immunity, but 68 percent of the northern California city's eligible residents are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, and 80 percent have received at least one shot, The Guardian reports. Those numbers are certainly in the neighborhood of scientists' herd immunity estimates, some of which are as high as 90 percent, and when adding the amount of people who have recovered from natural infections, it appears the coronavirus may have a hit a wall in San Francisco.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The city has some natural advantages, The Guardian notes, including the fact that it has a relatively small population of children (no vaccines have been approved for anyone younger than 12), and it's a compact place, geographically speaking, which "has allowed teams of health workers to go door-to-door to reach" people who may not otherwise have been willing or able to get their shots. Read more at The Guardian.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
The struggles of Aston Martin
In the Spotlight The car manufacturer, famous for its association with the James Bond franchise, is ‘running out of road’
-
The end of ‘golden ticket’ asylum rights
The Explainer Refugees lose automatic right to bring family over and must ‘earn’ indefinite right to remain
-
Grecotel Luxme Dama Dama: Greek luxury with a breezy beach vibe
The Week Recommends Rhodes is reimagined in this refined and relaxed resort
-
FDA OKs generic abortion pill, riling the right
Speed Read The drug in question is a generic version of mifepristone, used to carry out two-thirds of US abortions
-
The new Stratus Covid strain – and why it’s on the rise
The Explainer ‘No evidence’ new variant is more dangerous or that vaccines won’t work against it, say UK health experts
-
RFK Jr. vaccine panel advises restricting MMRV shot
Speed Read The committee voted to restrict access to a childhood vaccine against chickenpox
-
Texas declares end to measles outbreak
Speed Read The vaccine-preventable disease is still spreading in neighboring states, Mexico and Canada
-
RFK Jr. shuts down mRNA vaccine funding at agency
Speed Read The decision canceled or modified 22 projects, primarily for work on vaccines and therapeutics for respiratory viruses
-
Measles cases surge to 33-year high
Speed Read The infection was declared eliminated from the US in 2000 but has seen a resurgence amid vaccine hesitancy
-
Kennedy's vaccine panel signals skepticism, change
Speed Read RFK Jr.'s new vaccine advisory board intends to make changes to the decades-old US immunization system
-
Kennedy ousts entire CDC vaccine advisory panel
speed read Health Secretary RFK Jr. is a longtime anti-vaccine activist who has criticized the panel of experts