Would letting coronavirus infect the broad US and global population be a safe and effective means of ending the COVID-19 pandemic?
Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD, of Stanford University’s Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research is a signatory of the ‘Great Barrington Declaration,’ which proposes to “allow those at minimal risk of death to live their lives normally to build up immunity to the virus through natural infection, while better protecting those who are at highest risk.”
Marc Lipsitch, PhD, of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, a signatory of the ‘John Snow Memorandum’ which refutes the argument, responds.
Recorded November 6, 2020.
Topics discussed in this interview:
0:00 Introduction
1:44 Recent US data on COVID-19
3:05 Background on The Great Barrington Declaration
6:30 Main concerns and objections (John Snow Memorandum)
10:13 Response from Dr Bhattacharya
12:05 Can we protect the vulnerable?
19:33 Schools and children, and harms of lockdowns
27:11 What does removing lockdowns look like (Dr Bhattacharya)
28:29 Is there a middle ground?
29:00 Is there a benefit to delaying infection?
30:13 Separating low-risk from vulnerable
31:26 Thinking holistically about preventing harm
35:41 Masking and other common ground
37:54 Building up immunity through natural infection
40:36 Schools
45:17 Long-haulers
48:31 Definitions of a lockdown
50:05 Outlook for next 3-4 months
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