Dominic Cummings claims UK originally pursued ‘herd immunity’ policy
Boris Johnson’s former aide has claimed the UK originally pursued a policy of herd immunity to combat the pandemic, and claimed all three lockdowns could have been avoided if someone “competent” had been in charge.
Dominic Cummings took to Twitter on Saturday night to reveal the “shocking truth” that the government was pursuing a herd immunity strategy less than a fortnight before the first lockdown. He claimed Number 10 later realised it would be a “catastrophe”.
Home secretary Priti Patel denied the herd immunity claims, in which a large number of people catch the disease and become immune. She would not speculate on what Cummings would say ahead of his appearance in front of a parliamentary committee this week.
“Our strategy was always about public health, saving lives and protecting the NHS,” she told the BBC.
Also speaking this morning, the former deputy chief medical officer Jenny Harries said she had never heard herd immunity discussed.
She said she had “never been in a government meeting where herd immunity was put forward as a mechanism of control” but added, “Bear in mind I would not have been in most of the high-level ones as the deputy chief medical officer”.
Cummings said the belief Britain could achieve herd immunity by September 2020 “was literally the official plan in al documents, graphs and meetings until it was ditched”.
He said that in the week beginning 9 March, Number 10 was “made aware by various people that the official plan wd lead to catastrophe. It was then replaced by Plan B. But how ‘herd immunity by Sep’ cd have been the plan until that week is a fundamental issue in the whole disaster.”
Later that week the chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance seemed to suggest herd immunity was one of the goals but health secretary Matt Hancock later dismissed this.
Cummings is expected to elaborate with more detail at his appearance in front of the Commons health committee on Wednesday. He is widely anticipated to launch an assault on his former boss and the health secretary.
Last night he said: “If we’d had the right preparations and competent people in charge, we would probably have avoided lockdown one.” He said there would “definitely” have been “no need for lockdowns two and three”.