Indeed, the idea that "focused protection" could keep the elderly (and all the other at-risk people, who are nearly half of the US population) safe while the vi

Indeed, the idea that "focused protection" could keep the elderly (and all the other at-risk people, who are nearly half of the US population) safe while the virus ripped through the rest of the population was absurd. Of course, we now know that herd immunity would never have been achieved, so the entire premise of the "focused protection" strategy was incorrect. Allowing virtually the entire population to become infected before the advent of vaccines would have been devastating. Things were bad enough as it was, with 1 million deaths in the US alone. At least most people in the US were vaccinated before their first infection - things would have been that much worse if the US had fully followed Bhattacharya's advice and actively sought herd immunity in mid-2020.