Chris Hayes gave a dire description of Trump’s herd immunity policy that will send chills down the spine of most Americans. Elections matter.
Herd immunity raises it’s head again
One of President Trump’s top medical advisers is urging the White House to embrace a controversial “herd immunity” strategy to combat the pandemic, which would entail allowing the coronavirus to spread through most of the population to quickly build resistance to the virus, while taking steps to protect those in nursing homes and other vulnerable populations, according to five people familiar with the discussions.
The administration has already begun to implement some policies along these lines, according to current and former officials as well as experts, particularly with regard to testing.
The approach’s chief proponent is Scott Atlas, a neuroradiologist and fellow at Stanford’s conservative Hoover Institution, who joined the White House in August as a pandemic adviser. He has advocated that the United States adopt the model Sweden has used to respond to the virus outbreak, according to these officials, which did not impose lockdown orders or close most schools and businesses. Instead, Sweden recommended social distancing measures and masks, while keeping bars and restaurants open with restrictions.
WaPo
Before I even start, let’s define herd immunity. It is the “resistance to the spread of an infectious disease within a population that is based on pre-existing immunity of a high proportion of individuals as a result of previous infection or vaccination. The level of vaccination needed to achieve herd immunity varies by disease but ranges from 83 to 94 percent.”
The assumption is that once one gets the disease that they become immune to further infection for a substantial time. The problem is that no one knows for sure how long immunity to COVID-19 will last or if even one really becomes immune to the disease.
Given that there are so many unknowns, having an explicit or implicit such policy is fool hearted. It simply ensures that millions will die after a lonely and excruciating death.
Chris Hayes describes it perfectly. It is sick, and it is evil. The people who are afforded the treatment the president got at the behest of taxpayer dollars will do fine. Unfortunately, most will not receive that type of treatment.