Exclusive: Vivek Ramaswamy Supported COVID Segregation
🧵
“Could we tolerate a national system in which certain people on the basis of a biomarker are segregated?”
That sounds like an excerpt from a science fiction novel about a medical dystopia. But it’s a quote from Vivek Ramaswamy, the biopharma entrepreneur and Republican presidential candidate.
In April 2020, as the U.S. went into lockdown, Ramaswamy said he would be open to that kind of system to determine who could “go back to normal life.” He described it as an “inequity,” but concluded that “everyone stands to benefit from it.” Ramaswamy made the comments during an episode of Rockefeller Client Insights, the podcast of Rockefeller Capital Management.
A concept like that is sharply at odds with the image of the civil libertarian he has cultivated during the primary. It also raises questions about his anti-establishment bona fides.
During the podcast, Ramaswamy talked about different aspects of the coronavirus outbreak with Gregory J. Fleming, the president and CEO of Rockefeller Capital Management. Fleming asked him what a “path to normalcy” might look like, given what he described as a “potentially extended timeline” for the rollout of vaccines and treatments. The country was then more than 15 days into “15 days to slow the spread.”
“One path to normalcy and a path that I’d like to see further progress made on is broad rollout of our antibody tests,” Ramaswamy said. He corrected himself and continued:
“It’s not our company; I’m saying, as a society, rolling out the antibody tests such that we actually get our arms around what portion of the population is already immune through exposures that they may not have even known that they had. It might be 10 percent, it might be 20 percent, we might discover that it is some higher number. Those people are gonna be able to get back to work pretty quickly, get back to normal life because effectively they have the immunity badge, they have a badge in the form of their antibodies that protect them best we know from reinfection.
On the flip side, you then have the people who don’t have immunity, and the question is those who are negative on the antibody tests, what happens with them? Now, this has been—I’ve had discussions in the last few days with policymakers, a couple of people in Congress, one U.S. Senator, and I think this is not lost on folks. But I think one early topic that’s come up is, could we tolerate a national system in which certain people on the basis of a biomarker are segregated? To say you can’t go back to normal life, where certain people get a head start. Is that an inequity we would tolerate? I personally think that it is better than the status quo if we can send 10 or 20 percent of the people back on the basis of having immunity that’s proven on the basis of a lab-based result that’s now available. That’s a good thing, and everyone stands to benefit from it.”
A draft for discussion obtained by Contra shows Ramaswamy pitched this strategy to policymakers.
“After its apex of COVID-19 cases, each state should start to administer universal antibody testing to determine which individuals have immunity to SARS-Cov-2 and which individuals do not,” he wrote. “Individuals with immunity can return to normal life, be released from social distancing practices, and help restart the economy.”
“States should also have a well-designed plan for who should be released from social distancing norms to help revive the economy in advance of the availability of a COVID-19 vaccine,” he added.
Read⤵️
🧵
“Could we tolerate a national system in which certain people on the basis of a biomarker are segregated?”
That sounds like an excerpt from a science fiction novel about a medical dystopia. But it’s a quote from Vivek Ramaswamy, the biopharma entrepreneur and Republican presidential candidate.
In April 2020, as the U.S. went into lockdown, Ramaswamy said he would be open to that kind of system to determine who could “go back to normal life.” He described it as an “inequity,” but concluded that “everyone stands to benefit from it.” Ramaswamy made the comments during an episode of Rockefeller Client Insights, the podcast of Rockefeller Capital Management.
A concept like that is sharply at odds with the image of the civil libertarian he has cultivated during the primary. It also raises questions about his anti-establishment bona fides.
During the podcast, Ramaswamy talked about different aspects of the coronavirus outbreak with Gregory J. Fleming, the president and CEO of Rockefeller Capital Management. Fleming asked him what a “path to normalcy” might look like, given what he described as a “potentially extended timeline” for the rollout of vaccines and treatments. The country was then more than 15 days into “15 days to slow the spread.”
“One path to normalcy and a path that I’d like to see further progress made on is broad rollout of our antibody tests,” Ramaswamy said. He corrected himself and continued:
“It’s not our company; I’m saying, as a society, rolling out the antibody tests such that we actually get our arms around what portion of the population is already immune through exposures that they may not have even known that they had. It might be 10 percent, it might be 20 percent, we might discover that it is some higher number. Those people are gonna be able to get back to work pretty quickly, get back to normal life because effectively they have the immunity badge, they have a badge in the form of their antibodies that protect them best we know from reinfection.
On the flip side, you then have the people who don’t have immunity, and the question is those who are negative on the antibody tests, what happens with them? Now, this has been—I’ve had discussions in the last few days with policymakers, a couple of people in Congress, one U.S. Senator, and I think this is not lost on folks. But I think one early topic that’s come up is, could we tolerate a national system in which certain people on the basis of a biomarker are segregated? To say you can’t go back to normal life, where certain people get a head start. Is that an inequity we would tolerate? I personally think that it is better than the status quo if we can send 10 or 20 percent of the people back on the basis of having immunity that’s proven on the basis of a lab-based result that’s now available. That’s a good thing, and everyone stands to benefit from it.”
A draft for discussion obtained by Contra shows Ramaswamy pitched this strategy to policymakers.
“After its apex of COVID-19 cases, each state should start to administer universal antibody testing to determine which individuals have immunity to SARS-Cov-2 and which individuals do not,” he wrote. “Individuals with immunity can return to normal life, be released from social distancing practices, and help restart the economy.”
“States should also have a well-designed plan for who should be released from social distancing norms to help revive the economy in advance of the availability of a COVID-19 vaccine,” he added.
Read⤵️
In the discussion draft, he countered concern of societal “backlash against discriminating on the basis of antibody test results” by arguing that the alternative would be to “lift shelter-in-place and social distancing mandates on everyone which would increase the risk of new outbreaks.” ⤵️
He proposed a “public-private partnership” whose stakeholders could be a “division of government, a private company, or a nonprofit organization” that would maintain “the registry of individuals who are immune and individuals who should be prioritized for testing.” ⤵️
As it turns out, Datavant, a healthcare data company launched by Ramaswamy, pushed something like that in 2020.
The Wall Street Journal reported Datavant was “spearheading” an effort “to create a registry of COVID-19 patients by pooling medical records from across the country.” ⤵️
The Wall Street Journal reported Datavant was “spearheading” an effort “to create a registry of COVID-19 patients by pooling medical records from across the country.” ⤵️
The full story is available here or in the link in my bio readcontra.com/p/exclusive-vi…
Other things in this story:
In February 2020, Datavant announced that a George W. Bush-Era FDA commissioner had joined its advisory board.
In April 2020, The WSJ reported Datavant was talking with at least one federal agency about the patient coronavirus database: the FDA.
In February 2020, Datavant announced that a George W. Bush-Era FDA commissioner had joined its advisory board.
In April 2020, The WSJ reported Datavant was talking with at least one federal agency about the patient coronavirus database: the FDA.
This only could have been possible because of a proclamation signed in March 2020 that enabled the federal government to “temporarily waive or modify” privacy and reporting rules and regulations concerning patient data
One more thing:
Jared Kushner is close friends with Vivek (they dine together at Trump’s golf clubs) and as senior adviser to Trump, Kushner pushed a national coronavirus surveillance system *around the same time* that Vivek said he was was talking to policymakers about it.
Jared Kushner is close friends with Vivek (they dine together at Trump’s golf clubs) and as senior adviser to Trump, Kushner pushed a national coronavirus surveillance system *around the same time* that Vivek said he was was talking to policymakers about it.
You can read the whole story by clicking the link in my bio and support my work by subscribing here readcontra.com/subscribe
Incredible timing
https://twitter.com/tomlobianco/status/1729924766360826154
Post Millennial and Human Events and Breitbart don’t want to touch this story because there are real links between Vivek and Trump world
His political director was just hired by Susie Wiles, a top Trump adviser and Mar-a-Lago gatekeeper
His political director was just hired by Susie Wiles, a top Trump adviser and Mar-a-Lago gatekeeper
I am going to repeat this: Vivek might have changed his views and that is good. But the issue is that he acts like it never happened and his team accuses people who raise issues like this of lying. Read my article and check the links for yourself.
https://x.com/emeriticus/status/1729965838470455720?s=20
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