What is herd immunity? And how do we get there on COVID-19?

I’d make the headline something more like this:

Herd immunity: What it is and why it’s a tale told by “idiots” — Three experts on a bad idea

A story in which nobody speaks up for the idea and the reporter produces the simplest of he-said, she-said, leaving us readers mostly in the dark about why the story in the first place.

Simplest as regards the formula, but hard reading — of stuff that would have been best paraphrased by the writer, with key phrases in quotes. It’s his job as middle man and explainer for readers.

Sources are from Northwestern, U. of Chicago (shown at podium next to the mayor), and Johns Hopkins. Usual suspects.

The N.U. man used the “idiots” term in reference to non-specialists who spout off. In answer to a reporter’s question, to be fair.

Thank you, Chi Trib.

By Jim Bowman

Jim Bowman covered religion 1968-78 for the Chicago Daily News, since then has written books, articles, etc., mostly on corporate history but also on religion (Company Man: My Jesuit Life, 1950-1968), and more recently on politics (Illinois Blues: How the Ruling Party Talks to Voters -- Lulu.com, Kindle). Longtime Oak Park, Illinois, resident, he lives now on Chicago's North Side, where four of his and Winnie's six children live close by.

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