The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and its top officials are doubling down on criticism of the Great Barrington Declaration after emails showed they quickly moved last year to oppose it.
The declaration, penned last year, said lockdowns were producing negative short- and long-term effects on public health, such as lower childhood vaccination rates, fewer cancer screenings, and worsening mental health. The experts who signed on called for focusing COVID-19 prevention efforts on the most vulnerable, particularly the elderly, while loosening restrictions on the young and healthy, who are at little risk of developing severe COVID-19.