An Exclusive Interview with Dr. Scott Atlas
"There is never supposed to beĀ 'an accepted view' of science"
I had the honor to interview Dr. Scott Atlas last weekend at theĀ Steamboat Institute'sĀ 13th Freedom Conference. By the way, if you have never been to a Freedom Conference, I highly recommend it. The conference usually hosts influential conservative thought-leaders and tackles most current issues. I had the privilege to speak at the conference before.Ā
Dr. Atlas was one of the speakers at this year's Freedom Conference. He is a distinguished scientist and health policy expert. Formerly a professor and chief of neuroradiology at the Stanford University Medical Center, Dr. Atlas is a Senior Fellow in health care policy at the Hoover Institution and has received numerous awards and honors in recognition of his leadership in policy and medicine. He served as a special adviser to former President Trump and a White House Coronavirus Task Force member from August to December 2020.Ā
Needless to say, Dr. Atlas is one of the best experts to answer questions related to COVID-19 and health care policies. He graciously shared many insights with me at the conference. I plan to write multiple pieces based on our interview. For this newsletter, I want to share a few most notable and insightful comments from Dr. Atlas.Ā Ā
On Science
"Science is not supposed to be about intimidating, countering, interpretation of data, or abusing, or censoring data, or issuing rebuses...Science is not supposed to have a view. Science is only about data and the scientific process ...There is never supposed to beĀ "an accepted view" of science.
The phrase " follow the science" should never be uttered again by people who talk without actual data. They must stop, and they have no credibility whatsoever when they get up and say "follow the science" when they don't know the science and they don't understand the science and they are not using the science to make the recommendation."
On Mask Mandate
"All we hold true is based upon research and data. Our age of enlightenment is now under threat. Now all of a sudden, the earth is flat again. The earth is round, and it should not even be argued. Children do not have a higher risk of COVID-19; it shouldn't have to be argued. Children do not have higher risks to spread the disease; it should not have to be argued. A general population with masks does not limit the spread of the infection. That's the same thing as saying the earth is round."
On Lockdown
"The data shows that it [lockdown] didn't work. It didn't work to stop the spread of infection. It didn't reduce the deaths. In fact,Ā dataĀ shows it increased deaths. That makes sense when you realize that the infection spreads indoors. When people were confined indoors, you cannot distance yourself and protect the people at risk of dying. We must learn that.
Lockdowns destroyed people by shutting down medical care, stopping people from seeking emergency medical care, causing more drug abuse, increasing death by suicide, causing more psychological damage, particularly among the younger generation. Hundreds and thousands of child abuse cases went unreported.Ā
The lockdowns destroyed people, created massive poverty, and harmed the low-income population. Remember, economic damages caused death too. This is particularly true outside of the U.S. in poorer countries.
We have access to mortality data showing that anywhere from a third or half of the deaths during the pandemic were not due to COVID-19. They were extra deaths due to the lockdowns. We need to recognize that as a society that we can never do this again. Lockdowns must never be done again in the face of a pandemic."Ā
On Vaccines and Booster Shots
"The vaccines do not protect as well as had hoped against infection or the spread of infection. The data so far show that the vaccines are still protective against dying. That's the purpose. The purpose of the vaccine is not to protect you from getting two days flu-like syndrome. The purpose of the vaccine is to prevent serious illness and death. It seems the vaccines are still useful for that.Ā
Whether people should get booster shots is something that has no certain answer yet. I have three concerns. First, there is no safety data on boosters. This is a new type of vaccination. Second, there are still questions about the safety data of the COVID-19 vaccines. Third, what's the endpoint? Are we going to get a booster every three weeks? Are we going to get an experimental booster every three weeks for a virus that has a very low mortality rate among most people? The infection mortality rate for people under 40 is less or equal to the flu. Yet people are running around fearful.Ā
The biggest problem we have ignored as a country is considering people with natural immune protection because they recovered from COVID. They have better protection than people who got vaccines. Requiring vaccines for everyone regardless of whether they have COVID and now pushing people to get boosters are policies that are not based on science.
People do have the autonomy and capability to assess their risk tolerance. We don't forbid driving on highways. If we do, we will stop death from car accidents. We don't do that because people have a certain level of perspective of how many risks they are willing to take. A child has a higher risk of dying of lightning than from COVID. We don't keep all children indoors forever because we are afraid of lightning. We have to make individual decisions, not by mandate."Ā
If you like Dr. Atlas's comments, please note that he has a new book out in the fall. The title of his book isĀ Ā A Plague Upon Our House: My Fight at the Trump White House to Stop COVID from Destroying America. The book is available for pre-order at all major book stores as well as Amazon.com. I encourage you to check it out.