People standing at traffic lights wearing face masks

What’s wrong with the Great Barrington declaration?

The Great Barrington Declaration, a document advocating for herd immunity from Covid-19, has received hundreds of thousands of signatures.

It calls for society to return to normal whilst those vulnerable to the coronavirus shield.

But the medical community has criticised the Great Barrington Declaration’s recommendations.

Dr Michael Head, Senior Research Fellow in Global Health at the University of Southampton, said:

“The people who are proposing herd immunity with the coronavirus are
essentially saying that we should just let naturally acquired herd immunity happen through a population.”

“And that in itself is problematic because in the UK at the minute about 8 or 9% of the population have had coronavirus infection.”


“We know that roughly one in three or one in four of the UK population is
considered vulnerable.”


“How do you shield them?”