What is happening to our country? People are understandably tired of COVIDd-19 restrictions, but these restrictions are our only defense against COVID-19. An article on KMOV’s website had an article about around 100 people gathering in Clayton to protest St. Louis County COVID-19 restrictions.
“I’m not a doctor. I’m speaking as an informed citizen. I think we’ve seen nations that haven’t locked down, they’ve created herd immunity and they’re back to normal,” said protester Al Vitale. “They haven’t destroyed their economies. The death toll from this lockdown will be many times the death toll from this supposed virus.”Â
In fact, the United Kingdom, Sweden and Brazil have each allowed herd immunity to inform their approaches to COVID-19 in one way or another – with severe consequences. In mid-March, Patrick Vallance, the British government’s chief scientific adviser, announced they were taking an approach to COVID-19 that would “build up some kind of herd immunity,” but quickly reversed course due to fatal risks.
Similarly, Sweden attempted to attain herd immunity through an approach that ultimately yielded among the highest per capita death rates from COVID-19 in the world, with no measurable associated economic gain, according to the European Commission. Only 6.1% of Sweden’s population developed coronavirus antibodies by late May – a number much lower than predicted.
Ross Caravelli
Florissant