On October 4, 2020 a landmark declaration was released by three of the world’s most eminent public health policy experts inviting others to sign the document. Known as the Great Barrington Declaration – which stated that |”As infectious disease epidemiologists and public health scientists we have grave concerns about the damaging physical and mental health impacts of the prevailing COVID-19 policies, and recommend an approach we call Focused Protection.”
As of September, 2022, approximately 940,000 scientists, health care providers and other leaders world wide have signed the Great Barrington Declaration (also link below) shattering early claims by leaders of the Covid-19 response that there was a “consensus” on many issues including the efficacy of lockdowns. The Declaration represented a profound departure from the approach taken by so many jurisdictions around the world including Canada that undertook harsh measures including mandates and lockdowns. Ironically, despite these lockdowns and mandates, Canada experienced some of the highest levels of mortality from Covid-19 in comparison to other developed nations and spent more money than almost any other OECD nation – in other words – a major failure of public policy.
During our discussion we will explore how the Great Barrington Declaration formulated in 2020 was essentially accurate in its analysis and recommendations. We will examine the contrasting experience between jurisdictions including Sweden, Florida, UK and Canada. What are the lessons learned as we reflect on how this pandemic was managed? Based on evidence what is the final verdict on the advisability of lockdowns, masking, universal vaccination and vaccinating not-at-risk children?
We will discuss how lockdown policies produced devastating effects on short and long-term public health in the form of lower childhood vaccination rates, worsening cardiovascular disease outcomes, fewer cancer screenings and deteriorating mental health – leading to greater excess mortality in years to come, with the working class and younger members of society carrying the heaviest burden. Was keeping students out of school is a grave injustice? How do we repair the reputation of vaccines in general and reduce the sharp increase in vaccine hesitancy caused by overzealous vaccine mandate policies and the relative failure of the Covid vaccines?
Our Guests:
Dr. Jay Bhattacharya is a professor at Stanford University Medical School, a physician, epidemiologist, health economist, and public health policy expert focusing on infectious diseases and vulnerable populations.
Dr. Martin Kulldorff was a professor of medicine at Harvard University, a biostatistician, and epidemiologist with expertise in detecting and monitoring infectious disease outbreaks and vaccine safety evaluations. He is now a Senior Fellow at the Brownstone Institute.
You can watch the session below