Dr. Scott Atlas slammed public health experts for what he described as continuing to invoke fear as much of the population gains immunity from COVID-19 infections and vaccinations.
“What is the endpoint here?” Atlas asked during an interview on Fox News. “Because the endpoint is supposed to be living a normal life.”
“The point is to stop people from dying and lead a normal life … not to be fearful for the rest of our lives about what-if scenarios,” Atlas continued. “What if there’s a new variant? What if there’s new pandemics?”
Former Trump COVID adviser Dr. Scott Atlas on vaccinations:
“The point of this is to stop people from dying and lead a normal life … not to be fearful for the rest of our lives about what-if scenarios: What if there’s a new variant? What if there’s new pandemics?” pic.twitter.com/60kHD1Wkk3
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) February 24, 2021
The comments come as Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, has continued downplaying hopes that life will return to normal any time this year.
FAUCI WARNS PEOPLE WHO HAVE RECEIVED BOTH VACCINE DOSES AGAINST DINING OUT OR GOING TO MOVIES
During a press briefing Monday, Fauci warned people that receiving both doses of the coronavirus vaccine does not mean they should be going out to eat or going to movie theaters. The day before, he stressed that life might only return to a “degree of normality” in 2021 and predicted that people would still need to be wearing masks into 2022.
Atlas, who served as an adviser on former President Donald Trump’s coronavirus task force, said that widespread immunity from people already having the virus combined with vaccinations should give policymakers enough confidence to get back to normal.
“There’s a large number, in fact, probably 10 times the number of documented cases, of Americans who actually have had the infection,” Atlas said. “So we’re talking about a huge percentage of people that have immunity from either the infection and now the vaccine.”
“We have to ask what is the time we can lead a normal life,” Atlas continued. “And as we get the high-risk people protected with vaccination, voluntarily I hope, we then can open up, and we should open up right now, many things including the schools.”
Atlas stressed that for people outside of high-risk categories, the virus has a high survival rate.
“Remember, this is a virus that the overwhelming majority of people do well with,” Atlas said. “This is not the bubonic plague. We are not underestimating its seriousness, but we still see 99.5% of people survive if you’re under 70.”
“People who are high-risk and elderly, we want to get enough of them vaccinated,” Atlas continued. “And with the radioactive word here, ‘herd immunity’ of the infected people with the vaccinated people, they will be protected, and we should be opening up.”
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Despite the possibility of future variants, Atlas said there is no reason for people to live in permanent fear of COVID-19.
“There’s no reason to sit there and invoke fear in everybody as a permanent part of American life,” Atlas concluded.
