WASHINGTON (NewsNation Now) — Dr. Scott Atlas has resigned as special adviser to President Donald Trump on coronavirus, a White House official confirmed to Reuters.
Stanford doctor Scott Atlas, who has no prior background in infectious diseases or public health, was one of the president’s lead science advisers on the pandemic. Atlas has been a public skeptic about mask-wearing and other measures widely accepted by the scientific community to slow the spread of the virus.
Stanford issued a statement earlier in November saying his views were inconsistent with the university’s approach to the pandemic.
The Faculty Senate of Stanford University also adopted a resolution criticizing Atlas. He responded, saying in part he has “always used science and factual evidence to help generate the best possible policies to save lives.”
Atlas appeared at a news conference with Gov. DeSantis back in August who said stopping the spread of COVID-19 to low risk individuals is not the goal of the government’s pandemic response.
Some Florida physicians argued against the notion of a potential herd immunity strategy due to the amount of Americans who would have to be infected before heard immunity would be reached.
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