Just what doctor ordered

Kudos to Rabbi David Shabtai (M.D.) for his article pointing out the potential dangers/consequences of recently trending ideas regarding the notion of COVID-19 “herd immunity” that seem to be gaining favor, especially in Florida. [“Herd immunity isn’t a strategy, it’s giving up on one,” Nov. 17]

Among other things, he points out that the effects of having experienced the virus seemto far exceed the actual course of the event. Studies are revealing that a substantive percentage of cases are resulting in serious, long-term damage to many organs, and particularly to the vascular system.

My true sympathies do lie with Gov. DeSantis and the tourism/service-based business concerns, which seem to have inspired our complete reopening. Yet, until we have had widespread immunity conferred by use of the very promising vaccines that have recently appeared, the herd immunity approach continues to carry with it the paradoxical possibility that itmay kill or debilitate, through primary or secondary causes, a lot of people upon whom the recovery of our economy depends.

Stephen McAnney, Tamarac