AUTHOR=Xia Yuanqing , Zhong Lumin , Tan Jingcong , Zhang Zhiruo , Lyu Jiajun , Chen Yiting , Zhao Anda , Huang Lili , Long Zichong , Liu Ning-Ning , Wang Hui , Li Shenghui TITLE=How to Understand “Herd Immunity” in COVID-19 Pandemic JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology VOLUME=8 YEAR=2020 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cell-and-developmental-biology/articles/10.3389/fcell.2020.547314 DOI=10.3389/fcell.2020.547314 ISSN=2296-634X ABSTRACT=

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a global threat. Through rapid and effective surveillance and control, the newly confirmed patients have been fluctuated at a very low level and imported case explained most of them through March, 2020 to the present, indicating China’s response has achieved a stage victory. By contrast, the epidemic of COVID-19 in other countries out of China is bursting. Different countries are adopting varied response strategy in terms of their public health system to prevent the spread. Herd immunity has been a hot topic since the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic. Can it be a possible strategy to combat COVID-19? To fully interpret the knowledge regarding the term upon the background of COVID-19-related health crisis, we aim to systematically review the definition, describe the effective measures of acquiring herd immunity, and discuss its feasibility in COVID-19 prevention. Findings from this review would promote and strengthen the international cooperation and joint efforts when confronting with COVID-19.