To herd immunity? Or NOT to herd immunity? That is the COVID19 question.

Whether 'tis nobler in the ballot box to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous unpopularity. Or to take up arms against a pandemic of troubles. And by opposing end them. Woe is the fate of Trump’s Disunited States of America, that the stark reality of digging modern day plague pits would be required to achieve herd immunity from COVID19.

Of course, this would mean the most vulnerable amongst us, would frequently receive a visit from G. Reaper for months, possibly years. For everyone to contract the virus, a lot of people will have to die before the upside of herd immunity would be seen. In the States, Corona fatalities are nearing 170,000. That figure would be a drop in the ocean if herd immunity was allowed to run its course. 

So, what is herd immunity? It is the point where most of the population, (figures vary between 60% to 90%), become immune to the virus either by being infected and recovering from the disease or by vaccination against it. This theory has it that the virus is much less likely to spread to those who aren’t immune, because of the scarcity of infectious carriers available.

Although it feels like we’ve been living with COVID19 for an eternity, there are still things we don’t know about it. Top of the tricky question list is whether survivors will actually have immunity at all. So even if we allow Coronavirus to rip through our populations, while bringing hospitals to their knees, there’s no guarantee that this would bring our collective nightmare to an end. 

Meanwhile, in Washington, the marvellously named Coronavirus Task Force has pointed accusingly at Georgia’s rising infection rates, urging the state to enforce a mask mandate. A White House spokesman provided a passionate soundbite, ‘YOU CAN’T RUN AWAY FROM THE NUMBERS WHO HAVE DIED! 

Back in Britain, a nation not normally known for such outbursts, calmly came to its own conclusion on the merits of herd immunity. Saying ‘herd immunity is not part of the UK’s action plan to tackle Coronavirus and that it was ‘a natural by-product of an epidemic’. The Health Secretary went on to make it crystal clear, ‘We have a plan, based on the expertise of world-leading scientists. Herd immunity is not a part of it. That is a scientific concept, not a goal or a strategy.’

According to Johns Hopkins, experts in global public health and infectious diseases, the U.S. has a staggering 5.2 million COVID19 cases on its hands. Declaring on CNN, ‘It's doing very substantial damage to the country’, while indicating that the U.S. death toll could be close to 200,000 by early September.

Of course, it doesn’t help that America can’t actually get its own facts right. The Department of Health admitted to an ‘error’, as it reported to the nation that over two million Coronavirus Tests had been carried out since the pandemic started. This figure was actually over 200,000 Tests short of that mark.

It looks like the world will be bringing in 2021 with COVID19 still amongst us. In many American states Emergency Orders are set to be still in place. As a member of the human race, I can confidently predict that this nasty little virus will be disrupting all our lives over the next 4 ½ months. Mauvais Noël et une nouvelle année prospère!