Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
The Pandemic's Dr. Doom Bets It All
New York MagazineOsterholm, 67, is the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota and has spent the past four decades studying epidemics, but he became nationally famous a year ago for his stark predictions during the first shocking wave of the pandemic in the U.S.
“In April, I said, ‘These are just the foothills. We haven’t even gotten to the mountains yet—and there are big ones coming,’” he recalls. “People, of course, dismissed that as just hyperbole and just scary. Well, you saw what happened.”
His hair-raising, accurate prediction made him something of a Dr. Doom whose expertise was sought after by everyone from CNN to Joe Rogan. Last fall he earned a spot as an adviser for the Biden transition team, where he controversially floated the potential need for a nationwide lockdown.
Now, Osterholm has a new prediction: More virulent variants, particularly B.1.1.7 first identified in the UK, will likely kick off a surge in cases and deaths in the U.S. in a matter of weeks—just as most states lift restrictions. He’s staking his credibility on being right, and potentially his health, by delaying his own second vaccine shot, which he says should be done across the country in order to make more first shots available to as many people as possible, offering some protection before the wave crests yet again.
This question of delaying second doses has sharply divided the health and science community. But on Monday, the CDC’s vaccination advisory board, ACIP, agreed that the data on changing doses is too limited to make new recommendations—and one dose might not be enough to protect against variants, the advisers pointed out.
“In April, I said, ‘These are just the foothills. We haven’t even gotten to the mountains yet—and there are big ones coming,’” he recalls. “People, of course, dismissed that as just hyperbole and just scary. Well, you saw what happened.”
His hair-raising, accurate prediction made him something of a Dr. Doom whose expertise was sought after by everyone from CNN to Joe Rogan. Last fall he earned a spot as an adviser for the Biden transition team, where he controversially floated the potential need for a nationwide lockdown.
Now, Osterholm has a new prediction: More virulent variants, particularly B.1.1.7 first identified in the UK, will likely kick off a surge in cases and deaths in the U.S. in a matter of weeks—just as most states lift restrictions. He’s staking his credibility on being right, and potentially his health, by delaying his own second vaccine shot, which he says should be done across the country in order to make more first shots available to as many people as possible, offering some protection before the wave crests yet again.
This question of delaying second doses has sharply divided the health and science community. But on Monday, the CDC’s vaccination advisory board, ACIP, agreed that the data on changing doses is too limited to make new recommendations—and one dose might not be enough to protect against variants, the advisers pointed out.
2 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
