Herd immunity is achieved by protecting people from a virus, not by exposing them to it. It is achieved by ensuring a sufficient threshold number of people are vaccinated thus protecting the rest.
Never in the history of public health has herd immunity been used as a strategy for responding to an outbreak, let alone a pandemic. It is scientifically and ethically problematic. This has been self evident from the start. This Government has through malice or incompetence failed to recognise it.
This from a Nurse called Aroa López in Madrid. “We have given it our all. We have worked to the brink of exhaustion. And once again we have understood – maybe better than ever – why we chose this profession: to care for people and to save lives. “We have been the messengers of the last goodbye to older people who died alone, hearing their children’s voices on the telephone. We have made video calls, we have held their hand and we have had to fight back the tears when someone said, ‘Don’t let me die alone.’
That is the reality of this pandemic, that is the reality if we rely on fanciful notions like herd immunity. We must never ever lose sight of it.
Chris Bain 