Herd immunity policy for COVID-19 ‘like eugenics’
Deaths would surge among doctors, children and young people for no gain, biosecurity expert Professor Raina MacIntyre says
Heading down a herd immunity path for COVID-19 is approaching eugenics and would lead to a surge in healthcare worker deaths, warns infectious diseases control expert Professor Raina MacIntyre.
Speaking at a COVID-19 seminar at UNSW Sydney’s Kirby Institute on Tuesday, Professor MacIntyre, head of the institute’s global biosecurity program, said pursuing the “myth” of herd immunity would lead to more deaths and force the nation into more lockdowns.
She foreshadowed cycling epidemics and a clinical picture similar to that seen in the US, UK, Europe and China, leading to deaths in children, infants and young people, according to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald.
“It does have a connotation of eugenics,” Professor MacIntyre said.
