US President Donald Trump pushing for herd immunity against Covid-19, White House officials say
- Three senior health officials said the administration is taking the step to push that strategy into policy, despite the huge risks involved
- Public health officials have repeatedly said that such an approach would be dangerous and could result in thousands of unnecessary deaths
Three senior health officials told The Daily Beast that the administration is taking the step to push that strategy into policy despite public health experts and doctors warning that the strategy would result in many more people getting sick and dying.
Public health officials have repeatedly said that a herd immunity approach would be dangerous and potentially catastrophic.
One source told The Daily Beast that while the administration has been careful not to use the term “herd immunity,” their policy efforts focused on the idea that vulnerable Americans should be protected while everyone else is able to get exposed and potentially infected.
Herd immunity is not a strategy or a solution. It is surrender to a preventable virus
“This is simply wrong,” Marc Lipsitch, an epidemiologist at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, said on Twitter on Monday. “Herd immunity is not a strategy or a solution. It is surrender to a preventable virus.”