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The SitRoom Ep #86: Jon Harrison, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, and Thor Halvorssen
This episode of The SitRoom features Jon Harrison, Chief Strategy Officer for COVAXX, one of the leading COVID vaccine developers, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, Professor of Medicine at Stanford, and Thor Halvorssen, President of the Human Rights Foundation.
Jon Harrison
Chief Strategy Officer for COVAXX, one of the leading COVID vaccine developers
-- Jon, a Tenean who has spent years at the State Department, is now at the helm for the race to the vaccine. Jon said people should be prepared for the likely reality that an effective vaccine will take longer than many optimists currently assume.
-- Yet, there is a lot we can and should be doing now to prepare for a rapid rollout when a vaccine is successfully tested, such as improving the supply chain of essential equipment and substances to administer several billion doses as quickly as possible.
-- He is most worried that the politicization of coronavirus in these final few weeks before the election may cause policymakers to ignore important data that does not fit their narrative.
Dr. Jay Bhattacharya
Professor of Medicine at Stanford
-- Dr. Bhattacharya began his research by controversially studying the accuracy of the case fatality rate—or the death rate—among people who contract the disease.
-- These studies revealed that among older people COVID-19 is incredibly deadly—far more so than the flu. Yet, among younger people, it is far less deadly: the flu has killed three-times more children under the age of 18 than have died due to COVID-19.
-- This well-documented phenomenon needs to be taken more into account by policymakers who are closing and opening various institutions, he argued. For example, the cost of closing schools is far greater than the health risks posted to the highly resistant youth population.
-- At the same time, older people should be extremely careful as they are at significant risk with cases continuing to spread across the country.
-- Dr. Bhattacharya’s presentation at the Teneo Retreat was the most requested. View his slides here at the link below.
Thor Halvorssen
President of the Human Rights Foundation
-- Thor argued that the greatest impediment to global human flourishing is authoritarianism.
-- Four billion people live under authoritarian governments, which are bent to destroy freedom, civil society, and economic development.
-- Among these, the Chinese state is by far the most problematic due to the amount of people and resources they can direct in opposition to global freedom and human rights.
-- The Human Rights Foundation’s Oslo Freedom Forum is live this week. Called by The Guardian “the Davos of human rights activists,” Freedom Forum brings together the dreamers and revolutionaries who have successfully toppled past dictators with the activists who are trying to topple the next dictator. You can tune in virtually at the link below to the amazing speakers and inspiring programming starting tomorrow.
LINKS
COVAXX: https://www.covaxx.com/
Dr. Bhattacharya’s Teneo retreat presentation: https://docs.google.com/presentation/...
Oslo Freedom Forum Program: https://oslofreedomforum.com/
View all episodes
By Evan BaehrThis episode of The SitRoom features Jon Harrison, Chief Strategy Officer for COVAXX, one of the leading COVID vaccine developers, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, Professor of Medicine at Stanford, and Thor Halvorssen, President of the Human Rights Foundation.
Jon Harrison
Chief Strategy Officer for COVAXX, one of the leading COVID vaccine developers
-- Jon, a Tenean who has spent years at the State Department, is now at the helm for the race to the vaccine. Jon said people should be prepared for the likely reality that an effective vaccine will take longer than many optimists currently assume.
-- Yet, there is a lot we can and should be doing now to prepare for a rapid rollout when a vaccine is successfully tested, such as improving the supply chain of essential equipment and substances to administer several billion doses as quickly as possible.
-- He is most worried that the politicization of coronavirus in these final few weeks before the election may cause policymakers to ignore important data that does not fit their narrative.
Dr. Jay Bhattacharya
Professor of Medicine at Stanford
-- Dr. Bhattacharya began his research by controversially studying the accuracy of the case fatality rate—or the death rate—among people who contract the disease.
-- These studies revealed that among older people COVID-19 is incredibly deadly—far more so than the flu. Yet, among younger people, it is far less deadly: the flu has killed three-times more children under the age of 18 than have died due to COVID-19.
-- This well-documented phenomenon needs to be taken more into account by policymakers who are closing and opening various institutions, he argued. For example, the cost of closing schools is far greater than the health risks posted to the highly resistant youth population.
-- At the same time, older people should be extremely careful as they are at significant risk with cases continuing to spread across the country.
-- Dr. Bhattacharya’s presentation at the Teneo Retreat was the most requested. View his slides here at the link below.
Thor Halvorssen
President of the Human Rights Foundation
-- Thor argued that the greatest impediment to global human flourishing is authoritarianism.
-- Four billion people live under authoritarian governments, which are bent to destroy freedom, civil society, and economic development.
-- Among these, the Chinese state is by far the most problematic due to the amount of people and resources they can direct in opposition to global freedom and human rights.
-- The Human Rights Foundation’s Oslo Freedom Forum is live this week. Called by The Guardian “the Davos of human rights activists,” Freedom Forum brings together the dreamers and revolutionaries who have successfully toppled past dictators with the activists who are trying to topple the next dictator. You can tune in virtually at the link below to the amazing speakers and inspiring programming starting tomorrow.
LINKS
COVAXX: https://www.covaxx.com/
Dr. Bhattacharya’s Teneo retreat presentation: https://docs.google.com/presentation/...
Oslo Freedom Forum Program: https://oslofreedomforum.com/