01-06 Herd Immunity - John Bulloch

Politics 101. Don’t introduce anything weird during an election. Herd Immunity is what you get when say 60% of the population are vaccinated against a virus. Injecting healthy people with weak strains of Covid-19 is questionable public health policy and crazy politics.

The photo is silly. The chap with the coffee does not have herd immunity. What is silly is introducing something complex during an election. Something confusing and crazy. Will Americans think the White House is really on to something?
And comments about injecting less vulnerable groups in society with a weak strain of Covid-19 is not just something controversial that is bouncing about in the US, but something being promoted by Quebec Premier Francois Legault.
The concept is not crazy if applied to a vaccine, because we will hopefully vaccinate large portions of the population. But how do you get the same impact injecting groups of volunteers with a weak strain of Covid-19.
Love the public comments. It is like the Nazis’ experimenting on concentration camp prisoners. Or it is a plan that will kill 2 million Americans. Or I hope those behind this scheme have a good lawyer.
First it seemed President Trump was behind this plan. Then as the scientists weighed in he seemed to be against it. Amateur hour.
A signed letter by 80 scientists is more convincing. “Managing Covid-19 by allowing herd immunity to develop in low-risk populations, while protecting the most vulnerable, is a dangerous fallacy unsupported by the scientific evidence.”
I am sure folks in the White House are hoping they can convey a positive and simple message that will help President Trump. But to me it is a sign that the real White House pros are away sick with the virus.
Back in the 1980s I took a special course on television politics in Boston, and my instructor used 15 video clips of Ronald Reagan during his campaign for President against Jimmy Carter.
Every clip had the same message about the threat of Russian Communism. The same emotional quote stolen from an old Cagney movie. And the same joke.
The media coverage across the US reinforced a simple message. That Reagan as President was strong and a man of deep feelings and empathy. He appealed to Republicans and Democrats alike.