Contact: Rhea Farberman FOR RELEASE: October 14, 2020
202 494-0860 / RFarberman@TFAH.org
14 Public Health Organizations Condemn Herd Immunity Scheme for Controlling
Spread of SARS CoVID-2
Great Barrington Declaration is not grounded in science and is dangerous
(Washington, DC) – SARS-CoVID-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 has infected at least 7.8
million people in the United States and 38 million worldwide. It has led to over 215,000 deaths
domestically, and more than 1 million globally – with deaths continuing to climb.
If followed, the recommendations in the Great Barrington Declaration would haphazardly and
unnecessarily sacrifices lives. The declaration is not a strategy, it is a political statement. It
ignores sound public health expertise. It preys on a frustrated populace. Instead of selling false
hope that will predictably backfire, we must focus on how to manage this pandemic in a safe,
responsible, and equitable way.
The suggestions put forth by the Great Barrington Declaration are NOT based in science.
• There is no evidence that we are even remotely close to herd immunity. To the contrary,
experts believe that 85 to 90 percent of the U.S. population is still at risk of contracting
SARS-CoVID-2. Herd immunity is achieved when the virus stops circulating because a large
segment of the population has already been infected. Letting Americans get sick, rather
than focusing on proven methods to prevent infections, could lead to hundreds of
thousands of preventable illnesses and deaths.
i
It would also add greater risk in
communities of color which have already experienced disproportionate impacts of the
pandemic.
• The declaration ignores what are our best tools to fight the virus, i.e. wearing masks,
physical distancing, hand-washing, avoiding large crowds, strategic testing, rapid isolation of
infected people and supportive quarantine for people who need to isolate.
• We have seen the failure of the herd immunity experiment in nations such as Sweden,
which has the highest mortality rate among Nordic countries.
ii
COVID-19 carries a much
higher risk of severe disease and death than other infections where herd immunity was
attempted before a vaccine was available.
iii
It is illogical to ignore public health and scientific
evidence when so many lives are at stake.
Combatting the pandemic with lockdowns or full reopening is not a binary, either/or choice. We
need to embrace common sense public health practices that allow for a safe reopening of the
economy and a return to in-person work and learning while also using proven strategies to
reduce the spread of the virus.
The declaration suggests a so-called focused protection approach. It suggests allowing the virus
to spread unchecked among young people to create herd immunity in the entire population.
This notion is dangerous because it puts the entire population, particularly the most vulnerable,
at risk. Young people are not all healthy and they don’t live in vacuums.
iv
They interact with
family members, co-workers and neighbors. Inviting increased rates of COVID-19 in young
people will lead to increased infections rates among all Americans.
Public health guidance and requirements related to masking and physical distancing are not an
impediment to normalcy – they are the path to a new normal. The goal is both public health
safety and economic security; the two are not in conflict with one another, they are dependent
on each other. We need to focus our efforts on the development and implementation of a
national, science-based and ethical pandemic disease-control strategy.
The pandemic has created serious hardships on families’ economic security and on American’s
mental health and well-being. What we need is a coordinated and robust national response
including mask use, hand hygiene and physical distancing, while also ensuring social supports
for those most vulnerable, including physical and mental health, and social factors. What we do
not need is wrong-headed proposals masquerading as science.
This statement was authored by:
American Public Health Association
Big Cities Health Coalition
Trust for America’s Health
Association of Public Health Laboratories
Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health
de Beaumont Foundation
Johns Hopkins Center for Public Security of the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health
National Association of County Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities Directors
National Association of County and City Health Officials
National Association for Rural Mental Health
Prevention Institute
Public Health Institute
Resolve to Save Lives
Well Being Trust
i
https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/covid19/88401
ii
https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/covid19/88401
iii
https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/from-our-experts/early-herd-immunity-against-covid-19-a-dangerous-misconception
iv
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6941e1.htm?s_cid=mm6941e1_w
