Martin Kulldorff was wrongly fired from Harvard Medical School

He was broadly correct about COVID-19 policy and should be reinstated as faculty. Firing him is proof the academy is broken. Sign the petition to reinstate him.

Martin Kulldorff was a professor at Harvard Medical School who argued during the pandemic that school closure was misguided policy, lockdowns were inappropriate and draconian, vaccine mandates were unjust, natural immunity conferred protection against subsequent severe disease, kids did not need to be vaccinated, and that two year old children should not wear cloth masks in daycare.

On all these positions, Kulldorff ran up against the “establishment” view, and, in all these positions, in my estimation, Kulldorff was correct.

Yet, recently Martin wrote a staggering essay where he describes how his unpopular opinions left him ostracized at Harvard Medical School. He was eventually fired for a petty crime. What was this crime?

Martin declined to pursue a COVID-19 vaccination, after he had and recovered from COVID-19. This makes a lot of sense, as no one has ever shown that vaccinating someone who had COVID-19 further reduces the risk of severe disease or hospitalization. Moreover, it does not help others — as no amount of vaccination can halt transmission. Finally, the FDA never made Pfizer run a trial in people who had COVID-19, which is a violation of their duty to provide data to the American people.

As a doctor, I would have told Martin: I see no good evidence to support giving you a COVID-19 vaccination.

As a policy maker, I would have told Harvard: It is unethical to implement a vaccine mandate with a leaky product that cannot halt transmission.

Yet, even if you disagree with Martin on COVID-19 views, and even if you think he should have been vaccinated, can we at least agree that it is incredibly poor form and a threat to Academic Freedom to fire doctors and professors who disagree? What message does this send to faculty?

The academy is full of people who declined vaccines — mostly with dubious exemptions — and yet Harvard fires the one professor who happens to speak out against Government policies. It looks like Harvard has weaponized its policies and selectively enforces them.

Worse, this sends a chilling message that you can’t speak out against policy — even if it is in your wheelhouse — at times of crisis. Of course, Universities are full of petty rules, and can find that you violated one or the other. They will selectively enforce these and fire you. Tenure be damned.

Obviously, I think Martin was correct, but I am stunned that even those who disagree with him would want him fired. What will happen at a future date when Harvard wants to fire you? Except if you plagiarize, repeatedly, and often — then you just step down as president but keep the same 900k salary!

If you think Martin Kulldorff should be reinstated at Harvard, please sign this petition.