On the topic of the Great Barrington Declaration and the White House position on “herd immunity“:

I find it sad that this theory (which calls for deliberately allowing COVID-19 to spread while protecting the most vulnerable) is being floated so soon after Indigenous Peoples Day, given the massive numbers of Indigenous persons wiped out by similarly “imported“ diseases like smallpox. And the idea that we can return to normal on our way to “Fantasy Herd Immunity Land” discounts what we already know about viral disease: Some populations will achieve immunity, others won’t.

The real question we should ask ourselves is whether some populations, genetically speaking, are likely to be decimated, while others will be spared. We don’t have enough data on that yet (though Portland could be a center for this sort of research in the future as we grow the Roux Institute’s capabilities), but we will likely know more about that in time.

The truth is, advocating for “herd immunity” now is expressing a willingness to sacrifice some people or some groups of people so we can return life to normal, and I encourage our leaders to reflect on what that gamble meant for our Indigenous People before rolling the COVID herd immunity dice.

Brad Smith
Cumberland

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