At Tuesday’s ABC town hall event, Donald Trump told George Stephanopoulos that COVID-19 would eventually disappear because of “herd mentality.” While the gaffe is funny, the plan to end the virus through herd immunity is apparent, and it risks millions of lives.
Trump has a plan for coronavirus: herd immunity.
Say goodbye to your parents, your neighbors, and your friends.
Because the Trump plan will kill millions in the next four years. pic.twitter.com/69DyeiK5rG
— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) September 17, 2020
The Lincoln Project, a group of Republican strategists, released a video on Thursday that shows Trump acknowledging the dangers of a herd immunity strategy in April as well as video of recent statements Trump has made supporting that plan. There are a number of reasons that this plan is extremely dangerous.
There are approximately 331 million people in the United States. Of people who have tested positive for coronavirus so far in the U.S., the virus has had approximately a three percent death rate. Should even half the population of the country contract the virus, working towards herd immunity, it would mean millions of deaths. Even at the current rate of death, approximately half a million people are expected to die. Herd immunity would kill exponentially more Americans than that.
There’s another problem with the concept of herd immunity in terms of COVID-19, as well. Currently, there’s no scientific evidence that shows that having COVID-19 once means you won’t have it again. At this point, science says that it is unlikely that people will contract the virus twice, although there are reported cases, but “unlikely” does not mean the issue is settled.
Twitter had a lot to say about the new ad by The Lincoln Project. Read some of their comments below:
Featured image via YouTube
