New emails have surfaced showing a former Trump health advisor urging health officials to accept a “herd immunity” strategy to combat COVID-19, CNN reports.
According to private emails obtained and shared by the House Oversight Committee, Paul Alexander, a former Health and Human Services senior adviser, repeatedly pushed for his colleagues to pursue a herd immunity approach when dealing with the current pandemic.
In one email from July 3rd, Alexander wrote, “So the bottom line is if it is more infectiousness [sic] now, the issue is who cares? If it is causing more cases in young, my word is who cares…as long as we make sensible decisions, and protect the elderly [sic] and nursing homes, we must go on with life….who cares if we test more and get more positive tests,” he wrote.
A day later, in another email, Alexander pushed for those with lower risks to expose themselves, saying, “There is no other way.”
Despite his unsound plan, a Health and Human Services spokesperson said that the former appointee “absolutely did not shape department strategy.”
“Dr. Paul Alexander previously served as a temporary Senior Policy Advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs and is no longer employed at the Department,” the spokesperson confirmed before adding, “Herd immunity is not the policy of the United States COVID-19 response.”
Depending on herd immunity would mean that thousands or possibly millions of citizens would have to become sick with the virus to create a natural immunity amongst communities. According to Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician, and CNN medical analyst, if the country were to depend on herd immunity, nearly 2 million U.S. citizens could die.
