While I appreciate and agree with many points in this article, the statement, "there’s never been a real case of herd immunity through infection," is egregiously incorrect. We have to look no further than a number of other respiratory viruses to find pathogens to which humans have acquired herd immunity naturally. Examples include the four known endemic human coronaviruses, HCoV-229E, -NL63, -OC43, and -HKU1 as well as parainfluenza virus and human metapneumovirus. The four endemic coronaviruses were likely causes pandemics or epidemics in the past. A fantastic article also from The Atlantic explains this concept well and can be found here:
https://medium.com/the-atlantic/the-coronavirus-is-never-going-away-1c48f40575d3
The interested reader is also welcome to take a look at a very similar story I wrote here for more clarity on how coronaviruses work.
Lastly, I would like to emphasize that I am as hopeful as anyone that a safe and effective vaccine for SARS-CoV-2 is developed quickly. I also want to note that the concept of herd immunity is not an excuse or reason not to wear a mask, social distance, or try our best to protect one another especially the vulnerable.
