One of the problems with the “herd immunity” narrative is that we don’t know the duration of immunity to SARS-COV-2.

For other coronaviruses, and different diseases like malaria, immunity is not lifelong.

So letting the virus go vertical may just make it endemic in the West.

Yes, respiratory viruses are harder.

But nations used to set the policy goal of eradicating infectious diseases, before tech like PCR or often even a vaccine.

Now some have set a de jure or de facto goal not of eradicating COVID but making it endemic.
https://twitter.com/balajis/status/1259481359950639105">https://twitter.com/balajis/s...

CITATIONS

Endemic coronaviruses
https://www.statnews.com/2020/02/04/two-scenarios-if-new-coronavirus-isnt-contained/

COVID-19">https://www.statnews.com/2020/02/0... immunity
https://www.wired.com/story/sorry-immunity-to-covid-19-wont-be-like-a-superpower/

Malaria">https://www.wired.com/story/sor... immunity
https://www.cdc.gov/malaria/malaria_worldwide/reduction/vaccine.html

Endemic">https://www.cdc.gov/malaria/m... vs epidemic
https://science.sciencemag.org/content/357/6347/156.full

Swedish">https://science.sciencemag.org/content/3... policy
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)31035-7/fulltext

How">https://www.thelancet.com/journals/... diseases were eradicated
https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev.mi.30.100176.002235">https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/1...