The one question UC Berkeley Professor Emeritus John Swartzberg can't answer

It's a simple YES or NO question and he can't answer it. I don't think any infectious disease professor in America can answer the question either. Can you guess what the question is?

John Swartzberg is a faculty member of Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology division at UC Berkeley. He chairs the editorial board that produces the UC Berkeley Wellness Letter. Here is his full profile.

I saw his name pop up in an article in the San Jose Mercury News where he said, “If you’re a candidate for paxlovid or any of the other three treatments, make sure you avail yourself of them.”

Ouch.

So I wrote to him and asked, “I was wondering if you'd be willing to debate a qualified expert who disagrees with your COVID advice?”

He said he wasn’t, and gave me the names of other people who ignored my emails.

So I wrote him back:

I do have a question for you, if you don’t mind answering.

UCSF Professor Vinay Prasad co-authored this op-ed more than two years ago:  “Scientists who express different views on Covid-19 should be heard, not demonized.

Since then, there has not been a single open discussion despite repeated requests from qualified scientists who disagree with the mainstream view.

My question is a simple one: Do you agree with Prasad’s op-ed?

He stopped answering my emails at that point. It’s like the line went dead.

He can’t answer “NO” because that looks bad. The next question would be, “How many lives do we save by doing that? And what data do you have to back up your decision?”

He can’t answer YES, because that opens him up for the next question which is “OK, then why are you refusing to discuss the issues?”

It’s the one simple yes/no question that none of these COVID health experts can answer.

What’s interesting is I asked a top medical scientist (who I don’t want to get in trouble) the same question and he answered instantly, “Of course I agree with Vinay.”

Summary

The bottom line for people like Professor Swartzberg is that saving his reputation is a lot more important than saving people’s lives.

After all, the vaccine is either safe or it isn’t. We save the most lives if everyone knows the truth. But we won’t get to the truth as long as one side never comes to the table to resolve the issue. Professor Swartzberg hiding in the shadows and refusing to debate anyone is not going to save any lives. It will save his reputation in the short run. But he’s on the wrong side of history. I guarantee it.