Stanford researchers estimated that 9% of the U.S. contracted COVID-19 by July 2020, in a paper recently published in The Lancet. As the country reopens, researchers say both vaccines and public intervention are needed to prevent that number from multiplying.
To those advocating for a herd immunity approach, the study highlights a long path ahead. For the strategy to succeed, experts generally agree that 60-70% of our population would need to develop immunity.