I am happy to say that my response to the COVID-19 FAQ's OTT attack on the Great Barrington Declaration is now online at the Lockdown Sceptics site. LS both put the article on its site, and gave me a mention in its newsfeed (below).
A Defence of the Great Barrington Declaration | Lockdown Sceptics - Toby Young:
March 22, 2021 - "Today we’re publishing a point-by-point rebuttal of the criticisms of the Great Barrington Declaration set out in Anti-Virus: The COVID-19 FAQ, Neil O’Brien’s website devoted to attacking “Covid sceptics”. It’s by George Dance, a former chairman of the Ontario Libertarian Party. Here are the first three paragraphs:
The Great Barrington Declaration (GBD), under which thousands of scientists and medical practitioners have called for a end to lockdown policies, was drawn up last October 1st-4th, was announced on October 5th, and was already being denounced on October 6th. Over the next month, the GBD and its message were virtually buried beneath an “avalanche of scathing criticism condemning it as ‘very dangerous, unscientific, unethical, total nonsense, dangerously flawed, conspiratorial and grotesque’. Among the critics were prominent role-players such as World Health Organization director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, British chief scientific adviser Patrick Vallance, and US infectious diseases expert Anthony Fauci”. Defenders of the lockdown consensus released a counter-manifesto, the John Snow Memorandum, ironically named for epidemiology’s most famous dissenter from a scientific consensus.
At the time I read everything I could on the topic and made copious notes, hoping to write my own perspective on the GBD. Long before I was in a position to do that, though, the debate had moved on, and I never had an opportunity to revisit the subject.
Fortunately, there is a new FAQ in town: Anti-Virus: The COVID-19 FAQ. This new FAQ may not be the best place to go for scientific advice about the disease; the ‘doctors’ behind it seem to mainly have doctorates in economics and psychology (though I have read that there is an anonymous scientist involved), and some of their claims, such as “Covid still has a high fatality rate among younger people”, seem supported more by semantics than by science. (“Younger” in context turns out to be “younger than 65”). But at least the FAQ has revived the Declaration and assembled a ‘best of’ the criticisms levelled against it, making it worthwhile to revisit the debate.
"This is an excellent, very thorough demolition job. Worth reading in full."
Read article here: https://lockdownsceptics.org/a-defence-of-the-great-barrington-declaration-from-its-powerful-critics/
In addition to GBD, other systems of focused protection exist and have been endorsed by GBD authors. George may be interested in https://greenbandredband.com.
ReplyDeleteAlso explained in the British Medical Journal at https://www.bmj.com/content/370/bmj.m3410/rr-2 and https://www.bmj.com/content/370/bmj.m3702/rr-7 and in my article on Medium at https://link.medium.com/uLIKy8QfKcb.
The greenbandredband system was designed long prior to the arrival of the vaccines, but is still a valid way to exit lockdown while vaccine rollout gradually allows almost all those who are vulnerable to become protected. It is a sustainable model for regions where Coronavirus persists as a threat and does not depend on herd immunity to succeed. Worth checking out!
Thank you for writing, Steve. I know a little about the system; the US Libertarian Party used it to hold an in-person convention last summer in Florida. But I'd like to get and share more information.
DeleteMay I reprint material from the site? Of course greenbandredband.com would always be credited and linked. If you want to send me information (such as press releases) to print, that would be great as well.
Thank you for the reply. Absolutely you can reprint from the site and link to the various pieces I have put out elsewhere (would have to check BMJ copyright policy for reproduction of stuff published there). The goal of greenbandredband is to publicise the idea that people are quite capable of managing this particular crisis without the crushing government interventions that have marked the last year. It has never been about raising funds or making a profit so I have made all information and artwork on the site freely available for people to use/reproduce. Perhaps the best thing is if you email me directly at steve@greenbandredband.com and I can explain or pass on anything you are interested in?
ReplyDeleteI believe the Florida convention used a similar approach with a three band system. Not exactly the same thing but I applaud the attempt. I did attempt to contact the US Libertarian party at the time as I thought that a system which promoted a more appropriate balance between rights and responsibilities might appeal and might have been a popular point of difference for them in the toxic US election campaign. Unfortunately I never received any response!