Atlas, the only doctor to share the stage at Trump’s pandemic briefings this past week, has long questioned policies pursued by public health experts in the U.S. and abroad. He called it a “good thing” for younger, healthy people to be exposed to the virus, while falsely claiming that children are almost “zero risk.”
In an April article in The Hill newspaper, Atlas claimed that lockdowns may have prevented the development of natural herd immunity.
“In the absence of immunization, society needs circulation of the virus, assuming that people at high risk can be isolated,” he wrote.
In television appearances, Atlas has called on the nation to “get a grip” and claimed that “there is nothing wrong” with low-risk people being infected, as long as the vulnerable are protected.
“It does not matter if younger, healthier people are infected. I do not know how often that should be said. They have almost zero risk of a problem from this,” he said in one appearance. “If younger, healthier people get infected, that’s a good thing,” he said, “because that’s exactly how population immunity develops.”
While younger people are certainly at a much lower risk of developing serious complications of the virus, they can still spread it to others who may be more vulnerable, even if they have no symptoms. And although their chances of dying are slim, some see serious complications, with one study finding that 35% of young adults had not returned to normal health two weeks to three weeks after normal posture.
But Atlas’ thinking is closely in line with Trump’s perspective on the virus, which he has been playing out since his early days. While Trump has ultimately supported the lockdowns that once helped slow the spread of the disease, he has since put pressure on states to reopen schools and businesses while trying to revive a prosperous economy. for the elections in November.
Public health experts have long acknowledged Trump’s attempts to politicize the virus and have encouraged him to let doctors and scientists lead the nation’s response. But they doubt the decision to create Atlas, whose expertise is in magnetic resonance imaging and whose research has concentrated on factors that have implications for health care policy.
“I think he’s completely unqualified to help lead a COVID response,” said Lawrence Gostin, a law professor at the University of Georgetown who specializes in public health. “His medical degree is not even close to infectious diseases and public health, ‘and he has no experience in dealing with public health outbreaks.’
“It is very clear to me,” Gostin added, “that the president brought in someone who will simply be a mouthpiece for his agenda and a ‘yes’ person.” Gostin expressed his concern that Trump sidelined other doctors, including Birx and Fauci, because he had their advice.
“In the face of an epidemic that is killing hundreds of thousands of Americans, that is unforgettable,” he said. “You want clearly independent advice from people with long experience in combating novel pandemics, and he has none of those references.”
