44. The Experts Change Their Tune on Covid-19 w/ Amesh Adalja

Follow the Science

In late October, experts in the US stopped talking about taking extreme precautions against Covid-19 and started talking about learning to live with the virus. Does this represent a change of heart or a change in the science? It’s been hard for experts to detangle their scientific opinions from their feelings and values.

In this episode I’ll talk with Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. He’s long advocated an approach called harm reduction, which was used in the AIDS crisis to help guide people toward having safer sex rather than asking them to give it up forever. He says many experts initially pushed a Covid-19 strategy akin to abstinence only, but it’s becoming more obvious by the day that this is unsustainable, and the virus isn’t going away.

“Follow the Science" is produced, written, and hosted by Faye Flam, with funding by the Society for Professional Journalists. Today’s episode was edited by Seth Gliksman with music by Kyle Imperatore. If you’d like to hear more "Follow the Science," please like, follow, and subscribe!