It’s not often that a powerful public figure, in this case, Francis Collins, Head of the NIH, admits that he was totally incompetent at doing his job. He hurt millions of people because it never occurred to him to do a basic cost-benefit analysis regarding a lockdown. And in the process he pissed all over the reputations of highly reputable doctors like Jay Bhattacharya. He hopped over a very low bar by admitting the obvious here, but this is in no universe an excuse for what he and his comrades did from up on their high perches.

[Added Dec 31 2023]

Dr. Vinay Prasad is not convinced that Francis Collins has learned any important lessons. We both agree that this “confession” is not merely that he made mistakes, but that he is massively incompetent at his public health job.