Harvard epidemiologist: COVID-19 'scolding and shaming are toxic to public health'

(Image credit: Ina Fassbender/AFP/Getty Images)

published 11 September 2020

Americans are effectively on their own when weighing the risks and benefits of just about every activity during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Individuals have responsibility in an infectious disease outbreak, and more than usual in the sense that our choices affect other people," Harvard epidemiologist Julia Marcus told Vox's Ezra Klein in a podcast released Thursday. "But there's been a total abdication of responsibility at the top to create an environment in which individuals aren't burdened with that much risk and have to make those decisions entirely on their own."

That's a lot to ask, Marcus said, in part because "we're not asking people to just make a slight shift in their behavior — this is not just a seatbelt we're talking about. We're talking about asking people to make radical changes to their behavior that may be really counter to what they need and want in their everyday lives." Klein asked about "social shaming and scolding" people who disagree with us on the appropriate risk-reward balance, and Marcus urged people to avoid that:

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I generally try to stay away from absolutist responses, but my instinct is to flat-out say no: Scolding and shaming are toxic to public health. Almost full stop, with very few exceptions. I think it's a natural instinct. .... But from a public health perspective, trying to shame somebody into changing their behavior just doesn't work. It doesn't deter the behavior generally. For some individuals, it might, but on a general population level, what it will do is actually just deter disclosure of the behavior. ... It's essentially saying you're a bad person for doing this. [Julia Marcus to Vox]

Marcus said it would be "far more productive," at least from a public health standpoint, to consider "how we can help people meet their needs," using college students as an example. Klein suggested it would be helpful to have a five to seven general guidelines, like being "permissive with outside activities," keeping your social interactions within "a stable set of people," and wearing a mask when you leave your social pod.

Marcus agreed. "We are not going to stop interacting as human beings," she said. "So let's find ways to keep our contacts at a minimum and keep them outdoors. If we work with that framework, I think there's a lot we can do." You can listen to the entire interview or read excerpts at Vox.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.