Former Trump COVID-19 adviser cites vaccine 'safety concerns' in UT address

A former COVID-19 adviser for former President Donald Trump, speaking Monday evening at the University of Texas, falsely told a small crowd that COVID-19 vaccines present serious safety concerns and advocated against inoculating children.

Scott Atlas, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, a conservative think tank at Stanford University, also implied that the high number of COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. were linked to “lockdowns” and other pandemic safety restrictions, and he said government data around COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths was exaggerated and flawed.

The Salem Center for Policy at UT’s McCombs School of Business hosted Atlas.

The presentation, titled “The SARS2 Pandemic: Will Truth Prevail?” was open to students, staff, faculty and the general public. About 20 people watched the talk in-person and a few dozen watched virtually.

Atlas, a radiologist, does not specialize in public health or infectious diseases. He has previously faced criticism from multiple medical experts, the Stanford Medical School faculty and the Stanford Faculty Senate, which passed a resolution stating Atlas is “promoting a view of COVID-19 that contradicts medical science.”

Read more: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/2022/03/23/scott-adams-ut-austin-falsely-claims-vaccines-safety-concerns-children/7124582001/