Over 11,000 Scientists Sign Petition Against COVID-19 LockdownsMore than 11,000 scientists and medical practitioners have signed a petition against lockdown measures put in place to curb the spread of COVID-19 virus, saying that they are causing “irreparable damage.”
At least 7,000 medical practitioners, and 4,000 medical and public health scientists joined more than 100,000 members of the general public in signing the petition, which was created on Oct. 4 and co-authored by Harvard professor of medicine Dr. Martin Kulldorff, Oxford professor Dr. Sunetra Gupta, and Stanford Medical School professor Dr. Jay Bhattacharya.
“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,” reads the petition, which is titled the Great Barrington Declaration after the Massachusetts town it was signed in.
The petition calls for an end to current lockdown policies, saying that they are producing “devastating effects” on short and long-term public health.
Some of these devastating effects, the doctors wrote, including lower childhood vaccination rates, worsening cardiovascular disease outcomes, fewer cancer screenings, and deteriorating mental health. They argue that this will, in the future, lead to greater excess mortality, with the working class and younger generation “carrying the heaviest burden.”
“Keeping students out of school is a grave injustice,” the petition continues. “Keeping these measures in place until a vaccine is available will cause irreparable damage, with the underprivileged disproportionately harmed.”
They instead insist on an approach that instead focuses on protecting the most vulnerable, while working towards achieving so-called “herd immunity,” which they describe as “Focused Protection.”
“The most compassionate approach that balances the risks and benefits of reaching herd immunity is to allow those who are 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,” the doctors state.
“Those who are not vulnerable should immediately be allowed to resume life as normal,” the petition adds.
Hygiene measures including staying at home when unwell and frequent hand washing can help achieve the goal of herd immunity, the petition says. Young “low-risk” adults meanwhile return to the office rather than working from home, it adds.
“Restaurants and other businesses should open. Arts, music, sport, and other cultural activities should resume,” the doctors advise. “People who are more at risk may participate if they wish, while society as a whole enjoys the protection conferred upon the vulnerable by those who have built up herd immunity.”
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