Good news: the GBD supports COVID-19 vaccines. I was so pleased to hear Sunetra Gupta say “vaccines are amazing” & to hear her praise Britain’s wonderful vaccine roll-out. Jay Bhattacharya discussed the relief when his mom got the vaccine, a genuinely lovely moment 2/23
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In a famous interview last year, Prof Gupta said people under 65 shouldn’t be concerned about COVID-19. Compared to that advice (which I VERY strongly disagree with!), it was a relief hearing her praise vaccines in gushing terms. Thank you Prof Gupta 3/23https://youtu.be/KbLbHyC2URk
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BUT: I wish GBD had not been named science advisors to that awful PANDA anti-vaxx screed (it has been taken down). I wish it was not (a) tied with the anti-vaxx AIER (e.g. with AIER’s Naomi Wolf, anti-vaxxer in chief) & (b) promoting misinformation on vaccines (see below) 4/23
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The PANDA episode was damaging to GBD. GBD authors were named advisers to PANDA (https://www.pandata.org ) who pushed dangerous anti-vaxx BS. PANDA wrote: “there was no one for whom the benefit would outweigh the risks of these vaccines.” PANDA took it down after the outrage 5/23pic.twitter.com/fEgXp6Xmev
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By now, y’all have seen the horrific anti-vaxx nonsense pushed by Naomi Wolf (Twitter briefly suspended her). The GBD’s army of angry male troll followers tell me to "stop suggesting" GBD has any ties or links with Wolf. No ties at all! Nothing to see here! Not aligned! 6/23pic.twitter.com/ZmA5fAdiBm
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Now to the vaccine misinformation pushed by Jay Bhattacharya (cc
@gorskon). He doubled down on it at the roundtable. I’ve discussed with immunologists who agree it’s misinformation. JB is pushing the idea that it’s HARMFUL & unethical to vaccinate people previously infected 7/Show this thread -
See the misinformation in the editorial he wrote. It is NOT harmful, say vaccine experts, to give COVID-19 vaccines to people previously infected! Bhattacharya is pushing *misinformation*. If you have robust data proving harms in those previously infected, share it here! 8/23pic.twitter.com/qeajRnhWOR
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Vaccine experts say people previously infected SHOULD get vaccinated, especially older people. Hansen et al’s study of people with past infections showed that among those aged 65 & up, observed protection against repeat infection was ONLY 47%! 9/23https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)00575-4/fulltext …
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Hansen concluded older people are more prone to serious COVID-19 illness so we must “implement protective measures for the older population in the form of effective vaccines & enhanced physical distancing & infection control, even in those known to be previously infected.” 10/23
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At the roundtable Bhattacharya doubled down on his NON-EVIDENCE BASED claim. He said: “a very large fraction of the population have already been infected & are already immune. The evidence from the trials doesn’t demonstrate any efficacy in that population.” Ugh. 11/23
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He said: “giving the vaccine doesn’t give them anything extra.” Then things got so weird! DeSantis asked Bhattacharya if the trials *truly* showed no benefit in those previously infected. Bhattacharya replied that people with past infection were EXCLUDED from the trials 12/23
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Huh? If they were excluded from the trials, how can Dr Bhattacharya state that "the evidence from the trials doesn’t demonstrate any efficacy" in people previously infected? I’m so confused 13/23pic.twitter.com/Wt1cVvvntT
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OK, let me now mention 2 things that Atlas & Kulldorff said on vaccine prioritization. I STRONGLY disagree with both, but here I think we just have different views about the role of vaccines. Readers, I would love your thoughts on the assertions by Atlas & Kulldorff. 14/23
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Atlas ANGRILY scolded the public health community for suggesting there’s a role for vaccinating children. I disagree with him I’m thrilled there are pediatric trials & we hope to enroll our kid in one; vaccinating children will be crucial in reaching vaccine herd immunity 15/23
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Why does Atlas think kids must NOT get vaccinated? “Their risk is extremely low from this virus,” he said. 16/23
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Atlas, a neuro-radiologist, said: “There’s a moral, ethical question here if you’re going to start saying that young children should be vaccinated for an infection they essentially have no problem with.” IMHO he is being WILDLY inconsistent 17/23
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As y'all know Atlas (backed by GBD) pushed HARD for ‘herd immunity from natural infection’—he *wanted* to get children & low risk adults infected so that the whole ‘herd’ becomes protected. Why would this principle be different for vaccine herd immunity? I’m so confused. 18/23pic.twitter.com/sAmeRyZrra
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Atlas also HATES HATES HATES the idea of vaccinating teachers. He said angrily: “there’s ZERO reason to prioritize or insist that teachers get to the front of the line for vaccination. There’s nothing special about school, except that it's lower risk than the community.” 19/23
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Remember: he opposes masks, he is strictly against test/trace/isolate/support, & he is opposed to social distancing as a tool to curb transmission. Yikes. I am NOT in favor of squeezing unmasked people inside poorly ventilated school buildings with zero safety measures! 20/23
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Martin Kulldorff, on who should get vaccinated first: “It is the older people we should prioritize the vaccination for. The ONLY exception are people like nursing home staff who are working with older people, and other people in hospital working with geriatric patients.” 21/23
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IMHO this is too narrow. Shouldn’t ALL health workers be vaccinated? Shouldn’t ALL high-risk people be prioritized? When we designed COVAX, the idea of covering 20% of world’s population by end of 2021 was to ensure ALL health workers & high risk people are vaccinated first 22/23
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OK, that’s it. I’ve reached the end of this thread & the end of my analysis of the roundtable. It was an incredibly upsetting experience watching it I wish the US had done more to avert a mass death event that disproportionately killed Black, Latinx & Indigenous Americans. END
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End of conversation
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