‘Doomsday variant’ report guilty of fear mongering, experts say

Numerous infectious disease experts have criticized a report of a looming coronavirus variant far worse than delta or lambda, calling the report “fear mongering,” or stoking undue fear among the public by amplifying unlikely worst-case scenarios.

Dr. Michael Osterholm, epidemiologist and director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, told Newsweek "the next variant" "could be Delta on steroids," with the reporter writing the delta variant "shattered optimism" in de-escalating the pandemic with vaccine rollout. "We have every reason for optimism," Dr. Tracy Beth Høeg, epidemiologist and associate researcher at University of California, Davis, told Fox News adding in part, "this line ‘Delta has now shattered that optimism,’ is not appropriate. I would indeed consider this fear mongering."