My Authors
Read all threads
Getting herd immunity may not work.

It may just make the virus endemic.

And if you make the virus endemic you won't be able to "protect seniors" or any other vulnerable group.

That may be how things land up, but let's not kid ourselves about what that outcome means.
Put another way: any organization capable of erecting a semi-permeable membrane between millions of seniors and others such that they could live normal-ish lives without getting the virus would be able to do the same thing for the rest of society.

And we can't do that.
Let's also be clear that any country capable of eradicating the virus wouldn't set "herd immunity" as a goal.

It may work, it may not. It's a roll of the dice you wouldn't take if you had the state capacity of South Korea.

Some of the uncertainties here:
discovermagazine.com/health/could-w…
The US may well have to make hard choices due to its lack of state capacity to control COVID-19.

But there's a chance this really tears the social fabric.

If group A of citizens is writing off group B, due to being in a zero sum game, then group C may write off group A later...
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh.

Enjoying this thread?

Keep Current with Balaji S. Srinivasan

Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

Twitter may remove this content at anytime, convert it as a PDF, save and print for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video

1) Follow Thread Reader App on Twitter so you can easily mention us!

2) Go to a Twitter thread (series of Tweets by the same owner) and mention us with a keyword "unroll" @threadreaderapp unroll

You can practice here first or read more on our help page!

Follow Us on Twitter!

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3.00/month or $30.00/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!