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A group of leading infectious disease specialists has gone public, imploring Michigan Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey to reconsider his position on COVID-19 protections.
Shirkey has opposed mask mandates, which are strongly encouraged by the Centers for Disease Control, and other health experts. Instead, he’s gone public with his desire to let the virus take its course, telling Bridge Magazine that “the virus was always going to win,” and stating in an MLive.com article that “there’s an element of herd immunity that needs to take place.”
While herd immunity might eventually provide some protection – assuming individual immunity is real and long-lasting, which is not guaranteed – the experts note that it would come at a steep price. To reach that level, 6.5 million more Michiganders would need to be infected. At current mortality rates, that would mean more than 30,000 additional deaths, with hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations. Thousands more could be left with life-long impairments.
In their letter, the public health experts said… quote… “We ask that you clarify your remarks about herd immunity to avoid leaving the impression that a leader of your stature is supporting greater spread of coronavirus as public policy.”
The letter was signed by:
• Dr. Joshua Sharfstein from Johns Hopkins University,
• Dr. Thomas File, Jr., President of the Infectious Diseases Society of America,
• Dr. Tom Frieden, Former Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
• Dr. Ashish Jha, Dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, and
• Dr. Carlos Del Rio, from the Emory University School of Medicine.
See the full letter here.
