As the UK continues to operate under Covid-19 restrictions 18 months after Covid-19 first swept across the globe, a Stanford professor has warned again that lockdowns will be seen as the single biggest public health mistake.

Jay Bhattacharya, a professor of medicine and one of the forces behind The Great Barrington Declaration, told The Telegraph's Planet Normal podcast, there have been "enormous collateral consequences" of keeping people inside and isolating them from their loved ones during the Covid-19 pandemic. The epidemiologist believes many scientists have clung onto the perceived effectiveness of lockdowns, and they "remain attached" to the idea despite the "failure of this strategy".

This is the same message Dr Bhattacharya underscored to Jackie Cameron, host of the RQi: Research Intelligence podcast, in an interview before mass vaccination roll-outs got underway in the US and the UK.

Biographical notes: Jay Bhattacharya is a Professor of Medicine at Stanford University and a research associate at the National Bureau of Economics Research. He directs Stanford’s Center for Demography and Economics of Health and Aging. Dr Bhattacharya’s research focuses on the health and well-being of vulnerable populations, with a particular emphasis on the role of government programs, biomedical innovation, and economics. Dr. Bhattacharya’s recent research focuses on the epidemiology of COVID-19 as well as an evaluation of policy responses to the epidemic. His broader research interests encompass the implications of population aging for future population health and medical spending in developed countries, the measurement of physician performance tied to physician payment by insurers, and the role played by biomedical innovation on health.  He has published 135 articles in top peer-reviewed scientific journals in medicine, economics, health policy, epidemiology, statistics, law, and public health among other fields. He holds an MD and PhD in economics, both earned at Stanford University.

* You are welcome to embed the RQi podcast for free on your website, with full attribution to RQiP: Research Intelligence, hosted by Jackie Cameron (paintedwolfpodcasts.com). If you'd like your research to feature on the RQi show, contact [email protected]. This interview with Dr Bhattacharya was first commissioned by and aired on BizNews Radio's Inside Covid-19 show.