As a regular reader of The Jewish Link and someone who likes to keep abreast of general news and current events, my eye was caught by an article in the Feb. 27 edition (“Five Years After COVID: An Interview With Rabbi Dr. Aaron Glatt”). It offered a retrospective view on the pandemic by a frum epidemiologist.
Would this be an honest and open look at what had transpired over the intervening years with the unique angle of an Orthodox medical professional? A thorough assessment of what the medical establishment (and broader society) had gotten both right and wrong over the course of the difficult and unprecedented times wrought by the coronavirus? Unfortunately, no. The responses elicited were little more than the standard talking points offered by official medical personnel and read as if they may have come straight from the CDC’s website. And like releases from the CDC, this included statements that were misleading or, in certain cases, downright false.
When discussing the former Chief Medical Adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci, Glatt notes: “I think people who don’t know what he really did should not be attacking his character, because most people have no idea what was going on at the time. It’s difficult for me to see people castigate an individual who has been a trusted physician and public health official for almost five decades.”
There are serious questions around Fauci, and what role he may have played in gain-of-function (or adjacent to gain-of-function) research in Wuhan, China, brought up multiple times by Sen. Rand Paul. Additionally, in a subcommittee hearing in late May 2024, Fauci admitted that the 6-feet rule, a rule with massive societal implications, was somewhat arbitrary.
He also couldn’t recall any specific studies that masking children, a rule with severe consequences on children’s development, was an effective tactic at reducing the spread of COVID-19.
With respect to the vaccine’s rollout, Glatt claims, “Nobody ever stated that it was perfect, or that it would totally prevent one from getting the virus.” That is simply untrue. For example, a headline from NPR from March 31, 2021 reads that “Pfizer Says COVID-19 Vaccine Shows ‘100% Efficacy’ in Adolescents.” Attempts to post-facto reinterpret what Pfizer meant by “efficacy” doesn’t change the initial claim.
There are other questionable statements in the interview, but the specific claims aren’t even the core issue. My real problem with this interview is how it portrays those who were not fully on-board with the medical establishment over the course of the pandemic. If this interview was all you knew about COVID-19 in America, you would think that there was a saintly group of medical and governmental institutions and professionals working tirelessly and selflessly to protect the American people, doing their best with whatever information they had available. Meanwhile, this cabal of uninformed at best and evil at worst “anti-vaxxers” were doing whatever they could to disrupt, create chaos, and get as many people sick as possible. In truth of course, like in any complex issue, there were good and bad actors on both sides.
Glatt laments that “Unfortunately, I think there has been somewhat of a degradation of physicians, science and public health in the eyes of many people in recent years.” While he is somewhat conciliatory in this paragraph and admits that “some of that might be appropriate,” his remarks across the rest of the interview indicate that he feels most of that is unwarranted.
I find it ironic then that his attitude in this interview is exactly the sort of thing that led to that breakdown in trust. Instead of being honest about the successes and shortcomings of the medical establishment during COVID (which could rebuild trust), he doesn’t even entertain the idea that there were things the contrarians “got right.” Nowhere is there any mention that the move to keep schools closed for an extended period was likely politically motivated; that those calling for schools to reopen as soon as possible were in the right as the detrimental developmental effects multiple years of disrupted schooling had on children continues to be made apparent. Anyone with any problem with the way vaccines were rolled out is labeled an “anti-vaxxer,” despite the fact that, for example, there were no considerations for natural immunity and entire Western countries restricted certain vaccine administration for teens and young adults. Instead, those very real concerns are downplayed and delegitimized, with a patronizing tone to boot.
I have no doubt that Rabbi Dr. Glatt worked tirelessly during the COVID-19 pandemic. I don’t doubt his intentions were L’shem Shamayim, and he acted truly on what he believed to be right over the course of the coronavirus spread. I take no issue with his opinions, opinions he is rightfully entitled to, and with which I see the logic even if I do not always agree. If only he afforded those same considerations to those on a different side of the COVID aisle.
