The White House is pushing back on a report that said officials were considering pursuing a herd-immunity strategy.
During a press conference on Thursday, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany shot down reports that White House officials considered that theory, “The herd immunity, so-called, theory was something made up in the fanciful minds of the media. That was never something that was ever considered here at the White House.”
“Here at the White House, what we’ve done is race to get a safe and effective vaccine in record time,” she continued.
She went on to argue that White House officials “talk about therapeutics” for the virus.
McEnany also noted that there are 270 clinical trials and 570 “in the planning stages,” and touted the news that studies found remdesivir can help speed up the recovery of COVID-19 patients in hospitals.
Finally, she said, “The herd immunity theory again was something made up in the media.”
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Her comments come after an August 31 report from The Washington Post 31 that said Dr. Scott Atlas, a new White House pandemic adviser, was advocating for the herd-immunity strategy.
Atlas, a neuroradiologist, has suggested that the U.S. should emulate Sweden’s strategy to combat COVID-19.
That strategy would recommend that Americans practice social distancing and wear masks, but allows for restaurants and bars to remain open.
Officials would also try to protect nursing homes from the virus.
According to Johns Hopkins University, herd immunity occurs when “most of a population is immune to an infectious disease, this provides indirect protection—or herd immunity.”
One way to achieve herd immunity is for a “large proportion” of the population to receive a vaccine.
The other way is what the Post reports Atlas is advocating for, where a “large portion” of the population becomes infected with the virus.
Instead of implementing widespread shutdowns, officials in Sweden opted to allowed citizens to carry on their daily lives with few restrictions.
However, officials in Sweden have since been criticized as its death toll per capita was roughly 11 times higher than neighboring Norway back in June.
McEnany’s comments come as there are more than 6.3 million coronavirus cases in the U.S. and over 190,000 deaths.
Atlas has denied that he was pushing a herd immunity strategy, “There is no policy of the President or this administration of achieving herd immunity. There never has been any such policy recommended to the President or to anyone else from me.”
