S1E48 / A False Promise: Herd Immunity and Herd Mentality / Mark Pagel & Tom Frieden

EPIDEMIC with Dr. Celine Gounder

Transcript

"I would put this in very plain English: The way to protect the vulnerable is to have fewer infections, not more infections." - Dr. Tom Frieden

Talk of achieving herd immunity without a vaccine is back in the news, despite the consensus among public health experts that this approach would cost hundreds of thousands of American lives. Former CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden talks about his recent op-ed against this approach and the "one-two punch" to get the pandemic under control.

Then, evolutionary biologist Dr. Mark Pagel explains why some of the traits that make humans so successful as a species are getting in the way of an effective response to the pandemic, especially when it comes to wearing a face mask.

This podcast was created by Just Human Productions. We're powered and distributed by Simplecast. We're supported, in part, by listeners like you.

#SARSCoV2 #COVID19 #COVID #coronavirus