The "herd immunity" argument was all about naturalising mass death and mass disablement. It represented the core of the capitalist argument of "get back to work". The alternative would've been to organise towards safer workplaces: masking, sick policies and HEPA filtration.

I think the key point of leverage was when schools were due to return in the June of 2020. The teaching unions in its negotiations with the government didn't go far enough. They wanted schools to be safe and in the end that wasn't achieved.

The frustrating thing is, herd immunity (as it works in other diseases where sterilising immunity can be achieved and can be achieved without mass harm) is a great model for how widespread masking would work to protect everyone, including those who genuinely can't mask.