Great work, David. Noah Rothman introduced me to the concept of ELITE PANIC in a provocative article in Commentary Magazine in 2020. This term signifies the common response of leaders who believe that their superior knowledge and moral stature impels them to make judgements and pronouncements for the underlings who require their guidance. I think that it was reasonable for Pfizer and Moderna to reformulate and offer a bivalent booster to aim at Omicron and new variants of the future. It is TOO EARLY to know of their efficacy. We know that the college population is at low risk for Omicron COVID variants. I would liked the government to have approved these bivalent vaccines with the stipulation that if subsequent study shows a lack of efficacy, the drug companies would have to bear the costs.
I am currently battling with an abroad program to which my daughter was accepted for spring semester in France, mandating vaccine for my 21 to old daughter who was born with juvenile psoriatic arthritis and is currently in remission/inactive disease. We are not anti-vax but she has avoided this vaccine for risk of autoimmune flare. The program CEA is out of Arizona. We are working on a medical exemption but so much is wrong with this mandate, my daughter has gone back and forth with them severla times and I am about to step in with communication. The Wellesley students letter and your letter here will be attached to mine to the CEA program. I really appreciate you sharing this with the public so we can fight for the rights of these students. Thank you so much
Wonderful letter! I struggle to consider how one could argue against any of the points you made. Unfortunately, reason is often simply ignored these days...
This letter is intended to be easily repurposed to other colleges and universities. The particulars may vary, but the principles won't. Feel free to reach out to me if you would like to discuss it.
Oct 30, 2022·edited Oct 30, 2022Liked by David McCune, MD, MPH
Thank you for your letter. I have two sons, one who is in highschool and currently considering college, working through the process of sports recruiting. I am deeply concerned about the policy of many colleges, policy adopted by most of the colleges in CA where we live. My son's doctor's recommendation conflicts with these policies. I can't see how my children will be able to go to college if theses policies stay in place. Both my sons had Covid in May 2022 and were very mildly ill for a day. Neither are vaccinated and they caught it from a friend who was vaccinated (and had it for the second time in 4 months). They were among the last of their friends to catch it and were even less sick than their vaccinated and boosted friends (many of whom caught Covid more than once). My boys are healthy athletes, there is no reason for them to get the vaccine (much less, booster after booster) at this time. There is no evidence it stops transmission and no evidence it lessens symptoms in their age group - it was already mild when they got it. This push for colleges to insert themselves between a patient amd their doctor is unconscionable, particularly when there is no evidence that this policy has a public benefit. Why should my kids who worked hard and want to go to college be excluded because they don't want a medical procedure they don't need?
I'm dealing with this at Tufts University. I don't know exactly when people lost their ability to look at a problem and try to solve it as opposed to jumping on the tribal bandwagon. But I will be forwarding this to Tufts administration. Every bit helps and I thank you for putting pen to paper (virtual or otherwise) in support of this fight.
Update on future letters: I am working with a group of physicians and scientists to draft a general-purpose letter on this topic.
The list signatures can be found at this link:
https://open.substack.com/pub/davidemccune/p/open-letter-to-wellesley-president?r=2k47k&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Great work, David. Noah Rothman introduced me to the concept of ELITE PANIC in a provocative article in Commentary Magazine in 2020. This term signifies the common response of leaders who believe that their superior knowledge and moral stature impels them to make judgements and pronouncements for the underlings who require their guidance. I think that it was reasonable for Pfizer and Moderna to reformulate and offer a bivalent booster to aim at Omicron and new variants of the future. It is TOO EARLY to know of their efficacy. We know that the college population is at low risk for Omicron COVID variants. I would liked the government to have approved these bivalent vaccines with the stipulation that if subsequent study shows a lack of efficacy, the drug companies would have to bear the costs.
I am currently battling with an abroad program to which my daughter was accepted for spring semester in France, mandating vaccine for my 21 to old daughter who was born with juvenile psoriatic arthritis and is currently in remission/inactive disease. We are not anti-vax but she has avoided this vaccine for risk of autoimmune flare. The program CEA is out of Arizona. We are working on a medical exemption but so much is wrong with this mandate, my daughter has gone back and forth with them severla times and I am about to step in with communication. The Wellesley students letter and your letter here will be attached to mine to the CEA program. I really appreciate you sharing this with the public so we can fight for the rights of these students. Thank you so much
Wonderful letter! I struggle to consider how one could argue against any of the points you made. Unfortunately, reason is often simply ignored these days...
This letter is intended to be easily repurposed to other colleges and universities. The particulars may vary, but the principles won't. Feel free to reach out to me if you would like to discuss it.
Thank you for your letter. I have two sons, one who is in highschool and currently considering college, working through the process of sports recruiting. I am deeply concerned about the policy of many colleges, policy adopted by most of the colleges in CA where we live. My son's doctor's recommendation conflicts with these policies. I can't see how my children will be able to go to college if theses policies stay in place. Both my sons had Covid in May 2022 and were very mildly ill for a day. Neither are vaccinated and they caught it from a friend who was vaccinated (and had it for the second time in 4 months). They were among the last of their friends to catch it and were even less sick than their vaccinated and boosted friends (many of whom caught Covid more than once). My boys are healthy athletes, there is no reason for them to get the vaccine (much less, booster after booster) at this time. There is no evidence it stops transmission and no evidence it lessens symptoms in their age group - it was already mild when they got it. This push for colleges to insert themselves between a patient amd their doctor is unconscionable, particularly when there is no evidence that this policy has a public benefit. Why should my kids who worked hard and want to go to college be excluded because they don't want a medical procedure they don't need?
I'm dealing with this at Tufts University. I don't know exactly when people lost their ability to look at a problem and try to solve it as opposed to jumping on the tribal bandwagon. But I will be forwarding this to Tufts administration. Every bit helps and I thank you for putting pen to paper (virtual or otherwise) in support of this fight.