Letters to the Editor: Trump’s pandemic advisor pushes a dangerous strategy. We don’t have to accept it

To the editor: Think back to when, at the start of the pandemic restrictions in March, President Trump asked Dr. Anthony Fauci why they couldn’t just let the coronavirus “wash over” the country and get it over with. Fauci responded that many people would die if they did that.

Now, with the complicity of his new pandemic advisor, Dr. Scott Atlas, Trump may get his wish.

Atlas advocates for taking few proactive preventive measures and letting the chips (or the bodies) fall where they may in the hope of building a kind of “herd immunity” while keeping the economy moving. Unfortunately, many vulnerable among us will die or suffer life-long consequences, but that is apparently a consequence he considers worth the risk.

Personally, I am not willing to take risks for a president and an administration that are willing to sacrifice my life and the lives of the vulnerable for their political gain. I will continue to do my best to protect myself and my loved ones, hoping to survive long enough to see the end of this nightmare.

Laurie Jacobs, San Clemente

..

To the editor: Herd immunity for measles is achieved when more than 90% of the population has been vaccinated or infected. It doesn’t occur for HIV or influenza.

It is unknown if herd immunity will ever be possible with COVID-19 or at what level of infection and vaccination it might occur. It is just another catch phrase to make the idea sound like science.

Mark A. Goldberg MD, Rancho Palos Verdes

..

To the editor: Your editorial rightly points out that Atlas is a radiologist. The fact that he is not an expert in epidemiology doesn’t receive enough attention in the mainstream media.

Having a radiologist advise the president on a pandemic is like asking a skilled Amtrak engineer to pilot a 747 — or for that matter advise the president of the United States on pandemic policy.

Bruce Shragg, Tarzana