But herd immunity is transient unless/until the disease is eradicated. Small pox is it.

Polio in the U.S is not likely to come back soon, but measles has been high some years - because people don't vaccinate. 2019 had ,200 cases of measles, where 2020 had 13 reported.

The goal should be bring Covid numbers form pandemic levels to a low endemic level. I highly doubt Covid will reach parity with the cases of measles in this country even in 5 years - but I agree that vaccination should bring us down much lower than we are today.

It just means that you can't do thing X today and not have to do something else tomorrow - this is an ongoing process - not a problem that can be solved once and for all.


But we're not getting to "herd immunity" with Covid in the U.S. without a sustained years long effort - and judging by the way things are going with vaccines and the public I think rates of other disease preventable by vaccination are likely to trend upwards. we're not in great shape, but I do hope the level of Covid will be very low in the future.