"Here's a graph that doesn't get shown in the mass media, and that I'm sure all those who want you to stay fearful of covid don't want you to see. It shows the share of the tested population with antibodies to covid in Sweden"
Gary:
We can learn a lot from Sweden's experience, especially now there is a vaccine and we know so much now about this virus. This includes, as Sweden shows, the virus is more prolific during Winter a time of year when immune systems weaken due to low vitamin D levels.
There is a way to return our lives to normal, including opening our borders. But this requires actively investing in the health of all New Zealanders, so that contracting COVID-19 is mild for most of us (I'm sure I've already had the infection and it was done and dusted after three days). At the same time we need to put in place better measures to protect our most vulnerable, the elderly and the immune-compromised, from not just this, but all infections. This will include an ongoing vaccination programme for these at-risk people if they want it. Once there is herd immunity, the virus will not be a problem.