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We Want Them Infected: How the failed quest for herd immunity led doctors to embrace the anti-vaccine movement and blinded Americans to the threat of COVID Paperback – April 20, 2023
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“A gripping cautionary tale about the dangers of mainstreaming fringe ideas before turning them into federal policy, We Want Them Infected is damning, indispensable, and one-of-a-kind. It is likely to become canonical.”
Christopher Lane
Writer on Side Effects @PsychToday
Member, Center for Bioethics and Medical Humanities
Northwestern University
Praise For We Want Them Infected
One of the untold stories of the COVID pandemic in the US is the role of medical and public health professionals in spreading disinformation, pushing for policies that exacerbate the virus’ spread, and drive people away from important interventions, particularly vaccines, which blunt the deadly effects of SARSCOV2. Because of professional courtesy, solidarity or just sheer cowardice, many inside the professions have refused to take on these frauds, egomaniacs, purveyors of sickness and suffering in white coats. Jonathan Howard’s book We Want Them Infected, though, names names. In painstaking detail, he builds an indictment of these men and women who have blood on their hands, abusing the trust of millions to peddle lies and falsehoods. This book is one for the ages, making it hard to sweep the complicity of these individuals with the virus under the carpet, leaving a record for the future, a cautionary tale for all of us.
Gregg Gonsalves, PhD
Associate Professor, Yale School of Public Health
Associate Professor (adjunct), Yale Law School
The legacy of the COVID-19 pandemic will haunt our nation (United States) for many years. This is true not only because of the horrific toll of more than one million American deaths, and those who lost loved ones, but also several failed public health policies that contributed to America’s suffering. In “We Want Them Infected” Dr. Howard tells a dark story of how spurious concepts of herd immunity may have contributed to the spread of COVID-19 in the United States (and perhaps globally). His book provides important information about how we might limit the death and destruction of future virus pandemics.
Dr. Peter Hotez, MD, PhD, DSc (hon), FASTMH, FAAP
Texas Children’s Hospital: Endowed Chair of Tropical Pediatrics Co-Director, Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development Baylor College of Medicine: Dean, National School of Tropical Medicine Professor, Departments of Pediatrics, Molecular Virology & Microbiology Health Policy Scholar Rice University, Baker Institute Fellow in Disease & Poverty, Texas A&M University, Faculty-Senior Fellow, Hagler Inst for Advanced Study & Scowcroft Institute of Intl Affairs
- Print length606 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication dateApril 20, 2023
- Dimensions6 x 1.37 x 9 inches
- ISBN-101959346032
- ISBN-13978-1959346036
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- Publisher : Redhawk Publications (April 20, 2023)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 606 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1959346032
- ISBN-13 : 978-1959346036
- Item Weight : 1.77 pounds
- Dimensions : 6 x 1.37 x 9 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #598,545 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #247 in Viral Diseases (Books)
- #334 in Communicable Diseases (Books)
- #726 in Health Care Delivery (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

I am a neurologist and psychiatrist in New York City who worked throughout the pandemic at Bellevue Hospital
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Customers appreciate the thorough research and detail provided in this book. They find it an excellent resource for understanding and a must-have reference. However, opinions differ on readability - some find it well-written and easy to read, while others consider it hard to read or impossible to put down.
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Customers appreciate the book's thorough research and detailed organization. They find it an excellent tool for understanding and providing ample sources of additional facts. Readers describe it as a comprehensive, valuable expose of doctors breaking the Hippocratic Oath.
"This book by Dr. Howard is a painstakingly researched account of the failings of contrarian doctors that never saw a single patient...." Read more
"...Thank you, Dr Howard, for doing the hard work—thorough research, meticulous detail, organized into bite-sized chunks...." Read more
"The author or assistants have done a remarkable job in their research. However, Howard is very repetitious in his presentation...." Read more
"At last, a comprehensive and expertly researched answer to the onslaught of anti-science, anti-vaccine gibberish passing for many as "honest debate."" Read more
Customers have different views on the book's readability. Some find it well-written and easy to read, while others find it hard to read and impossible to put down. The subject matter is considered important and a valuable read.
"...to “do no harm”, but what happens when the spoken and written words are badly flawed and highly dangerous?..." Read more
"...Well-written and easy to read, the subject matter of intentional misinformation by COVID anti-vaccine charlatans is hard to digest." Read more
"...Fair warning though: like the best chronicles of tragedy, it is both hard to read and impossible to put down." Read more
"...This book needed serious editing and would have been very readable at 150 pages" Read more
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Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on August 27, 2023The simple truth about the pandemic is that Covid kills and vaccines save lives. Thus, over a million Americans died of Covid, and the vaccines have saved about as many people. And yet a small cadre of woefully wrong people has consistently cast doubt on these facts, most often but not only via posts on social media. Among those Jonathan Howard most frequently discusses are academics or physicians with faculty appointments at prestigious universities. Some of them have influenced public policy in a disastrous way via connections to politicians both nationally and, even more so, in Florida. Jonathan Howard’s outstanding book shows how these people act to disseminate disinformation. His general modus operandi is to quote the public utterings of both academic and lay people, and then expose the inconsistencies, incompetence, ignorance, fallacies, falsehoods and, in some cases, outright deceptions, contained within their words. Often, he shows just how badly their tweets and similar social media comments have aged – some of the worst predictors of future pandemic events seem to have the skills of those who inspect the entrails of dead sheep or read tea-leaves. It’s a highly effective tactic: his targets are well and truly hoisted on their own petards. The book is long (602 pages), not least because it contains 1282 citations to the medical science literature, news media articles and social media posts. The array of references underpins every aspect of the writing by providing abundant sources of additional facts to the reader. Why is this book so important? Because words can kill. The spread of disinformation during the pandemic drove the death toll far higher than it needed to be – hundreds of thousands of Americans died unnecessarily by making poor and often fatal healthcare decisions. Howard shows how some of the most prolific and influential disinformation disseminators acted from within the safe-space walls of leading academic and medical institutions. A fancy title can give the impression that a person knows what they are talking about. Here, Howard’s book routinely exposes the fallacy that a higher degree equates to wisdom and judgement. His writings should give everyone food for thought: Should the traditional concepts of “academic freedom” and the First Amendment really allow physicians and scientists to abuse the public trust by spreading flawed and dangerous ideas? The Hippocratic Oath urges physicians to “do no harm”, but what happens when the spoken and written words are badly flawed and highly dangerous? I recommend ‘We Want Them Infected’ to everyone interested in the truth behind a key aspect of the Covid pandemic - why so many people died unnecessarily because of what they read and heard.
- Reviewed in the United States on December 4, 2023I'm only 60 pages into this 606 page book, but already it's a searing indictment of armchair health professionals who, rather than treating COVID patients in, say, the early nightmare that was New York City hospitals, reviewed early statistics before anyone really had or could have had any sound projections as to how a brand new disease with no previous evidentiary history would play out. That is, they perused and manipulated statistics from the contagion safety of their computers in their cubicles or wherever, and issued confident sounding pronouncements, subsequently believed by large chunks of the general population and opinion leaders, that COVID would be no worse than the seasonal flu. One pronouncement was 10,000 ultimate U.S. deaths. Well, we're at almost 1,184,000 as of million this morning. This is called being not just wrong, from obvious shortcomings of their statistical jibberish, but very harmfully wrong in a Hippocratic Oath sense. So here's a resultant advisory: If you ever think the safety of you or you loved ones is subject to a certain dire threat, and some official or so-called expert is dismissive of your silliness and is far more fearful of people getting scared, panicking, and basically being fraidy cats (heaven forbid!), than the official or so-called expert is fearful of THE THREAT ITSELF (gosh, isn't that the more important fear?)...then give strong consideration to studying the matter, applying your own best judgment, especially if you can identify other official or expert who says the dismissive official or expert is wrong, and explain why.
- Reviewed in the United States on September 11, 2023Anyone setting off to find some truth in the thicket of attention-grabbing headlines about how dangerous Covid is (It’s the Flu!, It’s Worse than Flu!) and what ought to be done about it (We Need Mandates!, Mandates are Useless!) will soon find themselves buried under an avalanche of information. Inevitably, somewhere in that avalanche is disinformation and misinformation; but how to tell? Enter Johnathan Howard (Chief of Neurology, Bellevue and Professor of Neurology and Psychology, NYU Langone Health).
As witness to the pandemic, Howard was there from the beginning - seeing Covid patients at NYC’s hardest hit hospital, Bellevue, and volunteering in vaccine trials. In ways moving and profound, Howard's experiences inform “We Want Them Infected” which is equal parts expert analysis and history. Elevating something akin to Twitter’s “paired Tweets” (where one Tweet is damming commentary on the other) to an art form, Howard pits the quotes of the popular press’s go-to voices of optimism against established fact. For all the simplicity of the technique, the effect is devastating and made all the more so by Howard’s laying bare the machinations that underpin the rosier takes.
As effective as the juxtaposing of quotes with on-the-ground reality is, it is as history that Howard’s book is at its most incisive and unsparing. As the subtitle tells us, the book follows the contortions of a movement that at its inception counseled herd immunity through a mass death “normalized” as the inevitable dying off of the vulnerable; a group, in that telling, that barely clings to life as it is. It is a strange mystery of this quest for herd immunity that it morphs into a campaign against vaccination when vaccination's path to immunity bypasses infection’s most unwelcome companion: illness and death. Here too, though. Howard’s book sheds light on a possible answer: for this movement, goalposts are as movable as the meaning of the word “immunity” is changeable.
If that hints at the movement’s absurdity, that is no accident. Howard’s book, along with being deeply humane, is not without humor. Fair warning though: like the best chronicles of tragedy, it is both hard to read and impossible to put down.
Top reviews from other countries
Amazon CustomerReviewed in Canada on June 30, 20244.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive record of misinformation
This is a textbook, a comprehensive record of bad opinions, misinformation, & false claims that were spread during the pandemic & added more confusion, fear, & distrust to the mayhem of the Pandemic.
A highly referenced record of misinformation.
ETCReviewed in the United Kingdom on May 20, 20235.0 out of 5 stars A critical analysis of miscommunication during a pandemic
The book is a forensic analysis of the contrarians’ erroneous assumptions of safety and the damage done during a pandemic. Whilst spouting what should happen and what will happen, contrarians completely misinterpreted, downplayed, and distorted what was happening. They spouted frequent predictions of imminent herd immunity that never came. They forecasted underestimates of the mortality and from behind a desk suggested over intubation was an issue. These error-rich, self-promoting activists through their various platforms advocated that adults should be protected via an infect-the-children strategy. Unfortunately for both children and parents the hazards were real; they did get sick, they did spread the virus, and some are still paying the price. Howard kept the receipts. The distorted contrarians’ views of the situation are presented alongside the reality. The 27 reasons to not vaccinate children are scientifically dismantled. The consequences of this erroneous propagation on people compared to the contrarians is unjust.
I thought the real pandemic error was getting the Mode of Transmission wrong. The evidence in this book is that the contrarians did as much damage with their erroneous assumptions of safety. Although they will never admit, apologise, nor remedy, one can only hope that registration authorities will consider action necessary.
“This book is fundamentally about the obligations doctors [and nurses] have when communicating with the public [and colleagues] about a deadly virus.” I would also add and the obligations of these healthcare workers to correct erroneous statements.
One final quote “another book could be written about the failures of our health regulatory agencies”, e.g. the WHO saying COVID is not airborne. Yes, please do, I can’t wait to read it.
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PuhlitzerReviewed in Germany on May 13, 20235.0 out of 5 stars Das definitiv beste gegenwärtig erhältliche Buch zum Thema USA und der Pandemiebekämpfung
Jonathan Howard beschreibt in seinem Buch wie "contrarian doctors" – einige davon im Zusammenhang mit der sogenannten Great Barrington Declaration – sich während der Pandemie immer weiter an die Sprache von Impfgegner:innen annäherten und wie diese damit die Bemühungen um eine Eindämmung des Virus konterkarierten.
Es lässt erahnen, welchen Einfluss diese Personen auf die Wahrnehmung der Pandemie sowohl in den USA als auch in anderen westlichen Staaten hatte. Wenn man geneigt war, diese Entwicklungen zu verfolgen.
Durch seine langjährige Erfahrung mit dem Impfgegnertum kann Howard gut beschreiben, wie sich diese Überlappungen konkret äußerten. Er stellt im Buch 27 Argumente dar, die diese "contrarian doctors" verwendeten und zeigt, wie diese bereits vor der Pandemie von Impfgegner:innen verwendet wurden.
Sein Buch ist gut belegt und gibt eine erste Möglichkeit zur Ordnung des Geschehens, ohne dabei eigene Schwächen zu verbergen. Howard gibt auch einen nuancierten Ausblick darauf, welche Möglichkeiten zum Umgang mit Desinformationen am Ende der Pandemie weiterhin bestehen bleiben.
Für einen Rückblick auf die Zeit der Pandemie in den USA ein gewinnbringendes Buch.
DOCCOReviewed in the United Kingdom on June 11, 20235.0 out of 5 stars We knew this but…
I have been following the evolution of SARS since the early 2000s.
The author documents how certain self-appointed “experts” undermined the public health responses to the pandemic from the very outset, often aided by Big Money interests.
Update August 2023
Anyone not convinced by his book hasn’t read it.
I read the book and examined the recent Twitter responses from the main people JH alludes to. I can honestly say they have failed to refute him on a single point.
They resorted to ad hominem attacks and dug a deeper hole for themselves.
N D. S. CanningReviewed in the United Kingdom on August 9, 20234.0 out of 5 stars A condemnation of the pandemic responses of contrarian social media doctors in the USA
I just finished reading “We want them infected”. It is an indictment of the “social media doctors” who have pushed the narrative “virus good, vaccines bad” and an idea of “natural immunity” which ignores the actual suffering and damage the virus inflicted on the path to that immunity while cherry picking data to make the vaccines seem more dangerous than the virus.
This was the first pandemic in the era of social media video channels and podcasts where contrarian doctors who were not part of the effort of saving lives of patients in the over-stretched hospitals, were commenting from the side lines and developing their own careers as “media doctors” and “shock jock talking heads” .They specialised in developing counter narratives, the more controversial the better for listener and viewer numbers, their own revenue, and promoting their own remedies and untested quack cures. Ironically, their voices had wide influence while at the same time complaining they were being censored and marginalised.
Their narrative was believed by large numbers. They minimized the danger of the virus and exaggerated the dangers of the vaccines even before they arrived. Anyone misled by this narrative was put at greater risk. The unlucky ones have ended up among the greater number of unvaccinated who caught the virus and found it was much worse for them than they were led to believe. Post vaccination the fatal cases are now predominantly the unvaccinated despite these being a minority in the general population.
Strangely the distortions of the data and the predictions and prognostications of the talking heads who created the conspiracy narrative, continue to be believed, despite the facts becoming better known which refute these narratives. Instead of adjusting beliefs to accommodate facts as they emerge, it is the facts and the scientific method which uncovers them, which are disbelieved. All sorts of madcap conspiracies are believed, as can be seen in the online comments following any new information reported through social media channels.
It now becomes clear we no longer share the same reality. Social media has not democratised reality as was hoped by the pioneers. It has shattered it into incommensurable, incompatible fragments. Fact and reality itself have become the site of contention. Trust in all and every source of authority is undermined.
No matter what you believe, reality will bite back. It will be the final arbiter. Howard documents in painful detail how contrarian doctors in the USA adopted anti science methods and antivaxxer movement rhetoric, to misinform people about the unfolding pandemic, resulting in the USA having one of the worst pandemic fatality records.








