I agree that we should look back critically at the US's blanket, protracted lock-downs. Other countries opened schools more quickly, for instance, & I their kids were not as badly affected as American kids were. A friend who worked in the NYC Dept of Health for many years was shocked at the immediate, blanket quarantine, when public health officials are usually exceedingly careful about quarantining even a few people. Still, the backlash had a uniquely American individualist quality.
At the same time, a rational, controlled opening-up is not the same as a deliberate herd immunity "strategy." In general epidemiologists use herd immunity as a measure of public safety & health, not a means of attaining it.
Thanks for the reply .. yes there is a lot to review. A lot that science can learn, about what public health measures worked, and what didn't, either too lax, or un necessarily strict.
If my memory serves correctly, another country early in the epidemic also tried herd immunity ...Sweden. More for libertarian reasons than economic. They quickly faced a rising incidence and death toll .. and admitted that it was the wrong approach.
That example was there for all to see, and compare to other countries reporting to the WHO. I'm a qualified health scientist, in a different field, but the data was not hard to find and graph . and its implications not hard to follow.
I agree that we should look back critically at the US's blanket, protracted lock-downs. Other countries opened schools more quickly, for instance, & I their kids were not as badly affected as American kids were. A friend who worked in the NYC Dept of Health for many years was shocked at the immediate, blanket quarantine, when public health officials are usually exceedingly careful about quarantining even a few people. Still, the backlash had a uniquely American individualist quality.
At the same time, a rational, controlled opening-up is not the same as a deliberate herd immunity "strategy." In general epidemiologists use herd immunity as a measure of public safety & health, not a means of attaining it.
I agree that we should look back critically at the US's blanket, protracted lock-downs. Other countries opened schools more quickly, for instance, & I their kids were not as badly affected as American kids were. A friend who worked in the NYC Dept of Health for many years was shocked at the immediate, blanket quarantine, when public health officials are usually exceedingly careful about quarantining even a few people. Still, the backlash had a uniquely American individualist quality.
At the same time, a rational, controlled opening-up is not the same as a deliberate herd immunity "strategy." In general epidemiologists use herd immunity as a measure of public safety & health, not a means of attaining it.
Thanks for the reply .. yes there is a lot to review. A lot that science can learn, about what public health measures worked, and what didn't, either too lax, or un necessarily strict.
Hopefully, some country will fund that research.
If my memory serves correctly, another country early in the epidemic also tried herd immunity ...Sweden. More for libertarian reasons than economic. They quickly faced a rising incidence and death toll .. and admitted that it was the wrong approach.
That example was there for all to see, and compare to other countries reporting to the WHO. I'm a qualified health scientist, in a different field, but the data was not hard to find and graph . and its implications not hard to follow.
I agree that we should look back critically at the US's blanket, protracted lock-downs. Other countries opened schools more quickly, for instance, & I their kids were not as badly affected as American kids were. A friend who worked in the NYC Dept of Health for many years was shocked at the immediate, blanket quarantine, when public health officials are usually exceedingly careful about quarantining even a few people. Still, the backlash had a uniquely American individualist quality.
At the same time, a rational, controlled opening-up is not the same as a deliberate herd immunity "strategy." In general epidemiologists use herd immunity as a measure of public safety & health, not a means of attaining it.