This is not how ethical science works. Or even how neutral science works. Or evil science, for that matter. This is just not how science works.

^Lol. Did public health units as part of my science degree, can confirm.

"Herd immunity" as a coronavirus strategy is like using pregnancy as a method of contraception.

Probs even more horrifying is the whistleblower revelation that Jared Krushner and his coronavirus response team link that action didn't have to be taken against coronavirus because it was hitting blue states the hardest. And that letting it ravage Democratic states, and then blaming their governors, would be good political strategy. Unfortunately for them, viruses don't recognise imaginary state boundaries.

Just a wee bit evil.

Every time I see a post or comment on Facebook or Twitter saying this or using the "I have an immune system" argument, I just get more aggravated. Yes, we do have an immune system, but immune systems are not perfect. Yes, we have had immune systems keeping us alive for thousands of years, but at the same time, until we developed modern medicine and vaccines, 20-50% of children died before they reached their tenth birthdays. And people are underestimating this virus way too much. Yeah the death rate is only about 1.8%, but 1.8% of 7 billion is still a large number of people dying from the virus. And even if people survive, they can still have issues after they recover. I'm sure that I got COVID back in late July-early August, and it was scary. I had no fever, a scratchy throat the first couple days, and a tickle in my throat, but I also got chest tightness, heart palpitations, muscle aches, and shortness of breath, and I thought I was dying. Then last month, I had a brief relapse of my symptoms, which I have read about on Twitter and Reddit. I'd been Republican since I was 18, and I'm just so disappointed and annoyed with the GOP. Between totally dropping the ball with COVID, and the crappy handling of the racial issues (including calling Colin Kaepernick a S.O.B. for protesting, a 1st amendment right), and all the weird QAnon and other conspiracy theory crap, I'm just done.

@Cinders lmao right tho. Has herd immunity ever worked in the past?

@renarimae Omg same re the "immune system" argument. They're always like "we evolved an immune system to deal with viruses" and I'm here like "uh yeah and viruses evolved too. The only ones that still exist are the ones that can successfully overcome some aspect of our immune system".

See also: "how did humans survive for millions of years without vaccines and modern medicine??". The answer is: not well. Like you said, 20 - 50% of people died in early childhood. And of the women that made it to adulthood, a third of them died in childbirth.

"Yeah the death rate is only about 1.8%, but 1.8% of 7 billion is still a large number of people dying from the virus." Exactly.

"And even if people survive, they can still have issues after they recover." Yep, I was just reading that 40% of Australians who got COVID-19 are suffering complications even months later.

Sorry to hear that you went through that, and all the best in your recovery

Yep, I was just reading that 40% of Australians who got COVID-19 are suffering complications even months later. Tbh I think that's probably one of the scariest parts of covid.

^^Thank you. I've had another symptom relapse in late December, including new neurological symptoms (tingling in my arm and my face, headaches, dizziness, a feeling of heaviness in my left arm and leg, minor weakness in my left leg, a fleeting stuttering episode that lasted for about five seconds, and minor memory issues) that came about steadily starting on Christmas Eve and lasted for a week. I still get muscle aches and tachycardia occasionally, but I'm feeling better now.