Three day ‘Herd Immunity’ music festival to take place in Wisconsin next month amid pandemic

A music festival is set to take place in Wisconsin next month designed to give people immunity against the novel coronavirus.

As live concerts are canceled across the world, a three-day ‘Herd Immunity Fest’ has been scheduled to take place in Ringle from July 16 to July 18,

The event will take place outdoors at the Q&Z Expo Center, which can hold about 10,000 people.

The name of the musical festival is a play on the idea that if enough people contract the virus, they will build up antibodies and be immune from a second infection or from spreading it to others. 

Health experts and critics say vulnerable populations, such as the elderly and the immunocompromised are still at a high risk, and that there is not enough evidence of people being immune once they’ve been infected with COVID-19.  

Additionally, they warn that large gatherings can turn into superspreader events.  

A three-day ‘herd immunity’ music festival is scheduled to take place in Ringle, Wisconsin, from July 16 to July 18 (pictured)

Health experts warn that not enough Americans have been infected with the virus for herd immunity to be achieved. Pictured: An aerial image of Country Thunder in Twin Lakes, Wisconsin on July 20, 2012

Health experts warn that not enough Americans have been infected with the virus for herd immunity to be achieved. Pictured: An aerial image of Country Thunder in Twin Lakes, Wisconsin on July 20, 2012

”When the lockdown first happened, my first thought was OK we can all do 2 weeks, then it went on and on, things were getting cancelled, I started to worry about people not only for this Covid but mental, physical, financial,’ one of the organizers wrote on Facebook.

‘As humans we NEED other human contact. MUSIC in itself is great, but the live streams as I am sure you all know is just not the same we need LIVE, feel it to the bones, run shivers up your spine MUSIC with people around us.’

A line-up has already been put in place including artists such as Bobaflex, Dope Dope, Nonpoint, Royal Bliss and Static-X. 

Tickets are selling for $105.50 for a three-day pass. The website says the grounds can hold 10,000 people but that a maximum of 2,500 are allowed to allow everyone to socially distance. 

The Facebook page has since been taken down but the ticker page is still up and running. 

While the idea of holding an outdoor music festival seems far-fetched, a recent survey found that Wisconsin is the state with the second-fewest coronavirus restrictions after South Dakota.  

Back in March, Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said herd immunity from the coronavirus will likely not occur.  

Although people who have been infected will have built up antibodies, not enough Americans have gotten the disease for there to be no spread in communities. 

‘The people who are infected – there is no doubt…that if you recover from an infection, you have an immunity that will protect you with the same particular pathogen, in this case, the coronavirus,’ he told CNN anchor Jim Sciutto.

‘If people are infected, I don’t suppose it would rise to the level of herd community protection. [A]t the community level there would not have been enough infections to really have enough umbrella of herd immunity.’ 

Public health officials have warned for years that vaccines not only protect individuals but the community as a whole in what is known as ‘herd immunity’.

This occurs when the vast majority of a community – between 80 and 95 percent – becomes immune so that, if a disease is introduced, it is unable to spread.

Therefore, those who are unable to be vaccinated, including the ill, very young and very old, are protected.

Currently, less that one percent of the US population – 2.3 million people – have been confirmed to have the virus.

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services did not immediately reply to DailyMail.com’s request for comment 

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