Scientific Appendix
Over the past two years, there has been an incredible effort in the scientific community to understand how SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, evolves and spreads; the risk that Covid-19 poses to people of different ages and conditions; the efficacy of vaccines against infection and severe disease; the modes of transmission of the virus; and the best strategies to reduce its spread. In the scientific appendix to Mathcamp's operating procedures for Summer 2022, we discuss key points from the scientific literature that inform Mathcamp’s policies, providing evidence that:
- The risk of severe disease is low in young people, and extremely low after vaccination, coming within an order of magnitude of the risks from traffic accidents while driving to camp
- Vaccines continue to provide protection against severe disease even as the virus mutates and new variants emerge
- Rapid testing is an effective strategy to identify infectious cases early and prevent further spread
- Outdoor spaces, ventilation, masking, and limiting outside contacts provide additional powerful tools to reduce transmission
Click here to download the scientific appendix [PDF].
About the Author
Dr. Joshua Batson (Linkedin) is a data scientist specializing in infectious disease. He was formerly the Chief Data Scientist of The Public Health Company, where he led a team modeling the trajectory of the Covid-19 pandemic. Before that, he was a Senior Research Scientist at the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, where he led an effort to bring modern genomic epidemiology to California’s public health system, enrolling 18 county health departments collectively representing more than 15 million people. Joshua holds a Bachelor of Arts in Math from Yale University, a Master’s degree in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge, and a PhD in Mathematics from MIT. He was also a student at Mathcamp 2001, which took place at Colby College!
