Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson reportedly "agreed" to "let" the elderly contract coronavirus in an effort to protect the remaining part of the population during the pandemic outbreak in the United Kingdom, according to messages presented during the COVID-19 hearing of Lee Cain, former Downing Street Director of Communications, on Tuesday.
"The median age is 82-81 for men & 85 for women. That is above life expectancy. So get COVID and live longer," Johnson wrote in a WhatsApp message to Cain dated December 2020. The prime minister suggested that the government should "recalibrate" its approach as the virus appeared to mostly affect older people. Cain also revealed that Johnson appeared to be indecisive about imposing a nationwide lockdown in September of the same year.
During the hearing, excerpts from former UK Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance's journal revealed that the then-prime minister agreed with the Conservative Party's view that "Covid is just Nature's way of dealing with old people."