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EXCLUSIVE: Dr. Scott Atlas, President Trump’s special advisor on the coronavirus pandemic, officially resigned his post on Monday, Fox News has learned.
Atlas, who spoke to the president on Monday, joined the administration in August and was considered a Special Government Employee (SGE), serving on a 130-day mission. The role of Atlas will expire this week.
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Fox News exclusively obtained Atlas’s resignation letter, dated December 1, on Monday. In it, Atlas touted the Trump administration’s work on the coronavirus pandemic, while wishing “all the best” to the new Biden administration.
“I am writing to resign from my post as Special Advisor to the President of the United States,” Atlas said, thanking him for “the honor and privilege of serving on behalf of the American people.”
“I have worked hard with one particular goal: to save lives and to help Americans navigate this pandemic,” Atlas wrote, adding that he “has always relied on the latest science and evidence, without any consideration or political influence.
“Over time, like all scientists and health policy specialists, I have learned new information and synthesized the latest data from around the world, all in an effort to provide you with the best information for the greatest good. public, ”Atlas wrote. “But, perhaps more than anything, my advice has always been focused on minimizing all the harms of the pandemic and of the structural policies themselves, especially for the working class and the poor.
Atlas, who had been criticized throughout his tenure for calling for a reopening and saying the lockdowns are “extremely harmful” to Americans, said that “while some may disagree with these recommendations, it is the free exchange of ideas which leads to scientific truths. , which are the very foundation of a civilized society. “
“Indeed, I cannot think of a time when safeguarding science and scientific debate is more urgent,” Atlas said.
Atlas went on to praise his work in the White House and his work with “several altruistic colleagues in designing specific policies to strengthen the protection of vulnerable people while safely reopening schools and society.”
Atlas highlighted their efforts to increase and prioritize “additional personal protective equipment and tens of millions of additional tests for nursing homes and assisted living facilities”, as well as to implement “more surveillance updates. frequent using clinical guidelines to scale up testing ”and institute outreach for independent seniors in communities.
“We have also successfully designed rational guidelines for safe opening of schools, strategic use of the newly developed testing program and a national stockpile of drugs for future crises,” Atlas wrote.
Turning to lockdowns he has warned against throughout his tenure, Atlas said they “identified and illuminated early on the harms of prolonged lockdowns, including that they lead to massive physical health losses and severe loss of life. psychological distress, destroyed families and damaged our children.
“And increasingly, the relatively low risk for children of serious damage from infection, the less frequent spread of children, the presence of immunological protection beyond that shown by antibody tests,” and the serious damage caused by the closure of schools and society is all recognized, ”Atlas added.
ATLAS RETURN AGAINST CRITICS, SAYS ADVICE BASED ON ‘CURRENT SCIENCE’
Atlas also praised Operation Warp Speed and the team that “met the promised deadlines for new drugs and vaccines.”
“I congratulate you on your vision and I also congratulate the many people who have done the exemplary job – we know who they are, even though their names are not familiar to the public,” Atlas wrote.
Atlas went on to wish Biden’s new administration the best.
“I sincerely wish the new team all the best as they guide the country through these difficult and polarized times,” Atlas wrote. “With the emerging treatments and vaccines, I remain very optimistic that America will thrive again and overcome the adversity of the pandemic and all that it has brought with it.”
Atlas, during his tenure, had an argument with members of the White House coronavirus task force.
Over the summer, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Robert Redfield, reportedly criticized Atlas, saying “everything he says is false.”
Atlas defended his track record and expertise, and argued that all of his advice to the president was based on “current science”.
“I was asked to be an advisor on the coronavirus pandemic to the President of the United States and I was asked to do so because I have a 25-year career at the top, in medical centers in the United States. ‘elite, as a doctor and in patient care’. Atlas told Fox News this summer. “I also have a 15 year career in public policy, working on healthcare policy and integrating my medical knowledge into politics.
Atlas added that before his arrival at the White House this summer, “this expertise was not present”.
“I am here because I understand how to translate complex medical science into plain English for the President of the United States and for everyone else in the White House, and derive appropriate public policy from this information,” Atlas said. at the time, adding that there is a “false belief” that “you have to be a public health official to understand the facts about the pandemic”.
“The way I advise the president is perfectly consistent with the most appropriate strategy to deal with this pandemic,” he said. “First, aim for diligent protection of vulnerable and high-risk populations, and second, open schools and society.”
Meanwhile, as with a coronavirus vaccine, the Trump administration has said deliveries of the vaccine will begin as early as this week and will first be available to frontline workers, medical staff and the elderly.
The president, on Thanksgiving, argued that his opponent, President-elect Joe Biden, should not be given credit for the vaccines, which he called a “medical miracle” before repeating the claims. ‘voting irregularities in the 2020 elections.
“Joe Biden failed with swine flu, H1N1, totally failed with swine flu,” Trump said. “Don’t let him take the credit for the vaccines because the vaccines were me and I pushed people harder than they’ve ever been before and we approved it and nobody ever saw a thing like.”
Trump’s comments came ahead of a December 10 meeting, at which Food and Drug Administration regulators will review Pfizer’s request for emergency use authorization for its vaccine developed with BioNTech.
The latest vaccine trial data from Pfizer and BioNTech, released earlier this month, showed it to be 90% effective.
Additionally, Moderna said its vaccine was 94.5 percent effective in preventing COVID-19. AstraZeneca also reported preliminary results which showed that its vaccine’s efficacy ranged from 62% to 90%, depending on the dose given to the participants.
According to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Alex Azar, the vaccines will be “shipped” within 24 hours of FDA approval, then it will be “nursing homes, hospitals and pharmacies to get them delivered.” .
“It could really be that within days of FDA approval, we would start to see vaccines in people’s arms, which is frankly amazing,” Azar said Monday.
The United States has reported more than 13.5 million cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic and more than 267,000 deaths.
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