Editor, Commonwealth:
Wyatt Emmerich’s column from July 23 (“Herd immunity is the answer”) is misguided. It’s telling that rather than provide sources himself, he insists that his readers go find them on their own.
The best-case scenario for herd immunity requires 40 to 50% of the population to contract and recover from the coronavirus. At the high end, 3 to 5% of the population has contracted COVID-19 and is (hopefully) immune. If the pandemic continues at present levels, reaching herd immunity would take years.
Is Emmerich seriously suggesting that repeating the past four months 10 more times is the best answer? Moreover, it is important for his readers to acknowledge that no human society in modern history has reached herd immunity without a vaccine. By the time we reach herd immunity, if we do at all, our society will be unrecognizable.
Emmerich’s reckless column falls far below the standards of evidence and logic that I would expect from someone writing a letter to the editor, much less from the president of a newspaper publisher.
Ryan Parsons
Greenwood
