1/5: Many thanks @EricaRHill @JohnBerman for hosting me on @NewDay: I voiced strong opinions this AM on how to proceed regarding the emergence of the the SARS CoV2 variant B.1.1.7. Bottom line: Not a question of opinion, it’s an evidence based decision
2/5: Over the Summer the CDC launched SPHERES, a virus genomics sequencing consortium, a similar approach led the UK to discover variant 1.1.1.7. We should therefore already know if the new variant has entered the country. cdc.gov/coronavirus/20…
3/5: My expectation is that by COB today, the CDC will inform the American people: 1) If indeed the virus has entered the US, 2) its extent, where and if it's outcompeting other virus strains, 3) epidemiologic models showing how quickly it is expected to spread, and...
4/5: ....what exactly would be the impact - if any - of travel restrictions from the UK. The point is this is not an opinion, it's an evidence based decision that should be made by the CDC and very soon.
5/5: I don't want to hear about the opinions of the Governor or NY, Wash State, or White House. The UK is among our most trusted beloved allies. If we decide to kick them in the balls, which is what a travel restriction is, we'd better base it on evidence-based decision making
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
THREAD 1/5: I know this is not very nice just a couple of days before Christmas but I have to say I'm concerned about the CDC press release today, and the status our virus genomics surveillance program SPHERE
THREAD 2/5: Here's the statement: "Given the small fraction of US infections that have been sequenced, the variant could already be in the United States without having been detected"
THREAD 3/5: And this one: "The VOC 202012/01 variant has not been identified through sequencing efforts in the United States, although viruses have only been sequenced from about 51,000 of the 17 million US cases"
2/4: Also with mixed emotions X3. 1. Sadness & Grief: Reflecting on the 300,000 Americans who lost their lives from #COVID19. Those who never had this opportunity, because our nation could never organize a national plan roadmap. How I tried to push WH to implement an Oct 1 Plan
3/4: Gratitude: Thankful to @pfizer@BioNTech_Group and to the leadership of OpWarpSpeed, including our @HHSGov agencies: @US_FDA@CDCgov and to the @NIH supporting more than a decade of R&D on coronavirus vaccines including ours now being produced and tested in India 🇮🇳
Many thanks @AymanM hosting me @MSNBC on this first full day of #covid19 vaccination in America. I explained why the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is both effect and safe and = the culmination of 17 years of R&D from a community of CoV virologists including our group
The vaccine then went through a rigorous phase 1 and 2 trials, showing that we need to 2 doses to get the virus 🦠 neutralizing antibodies up, and then a large 44,000 person phase 3 trial equivalent in size to any typical vaccine trial in the US
After that it will go through rigorous post EUA monitoring through VAERS VSD and additional FDA and CDC monitoring.
1/3: Always an honor to be on @CNNTonight with @donlemon the night before possible first release of #covid19 vaccines to the American people. Recent polls show high rates of vaccine hesitancy and refusal, here are the + and - forces...
2/3: On the + side I think as people see their family, friends, colleagues get vaccinated, things will pick up. Also the high level of reported protective immunity will be a driver...
3/3: On the - side there is no real communication strategy from OWS even though it is a strong program scientifically. The void is filled with pharma CEOs who are mostly poor and tone deaf communicators + powerful antivaccine groups dominating internet + Russian disinformation
1/4: My comments this AM with @apoorva_nyc in @nytimes, I stated how the “stars would need to align” in order to meet OpWarpSpeed projections of vaccinating US population and ultimately interrupting virus transmission nytimes.com/2020/12/06/us/…
2/4: We have two performance hopes or expectations for #COVID19 vaccines: 1) To keep you or your family out of the hospital or ICU and save your life (so far that seems to be happening), but also 2) if enough people are vaccinated then virus 🦠 transmission stops
3/4: Second bar is a high one requiring following stars to align: 1) the vaccine can also halt virus shedding, asymptomatic transmission and we haven’t established that yet, studies planned, 2) we estimated with modelers @CUNYSPH@bruce_y_lee that 60-80% US population vaccinated
You are not wrong. But it never was that way before? @NASA was launched in by Eisenhower, @PEPFAR#NTDs by W, I know because I worked with Dr Fauci to make it happen. Ok maybe Reagan wasn’t great, but not like this. Our nation was built on science. What the heck happened?
And how do we fix this? When i was chair 🪑 of microbiology at @GWSMHS for 11 years (loved it) I learned that you can get anything done you want as long as you don’t need to take the credit for it and are willing to reach across the aisle
Back then I would think nothing of going to Sen. Sam Brownback’s (R-KS) prayer 🙏 breakfast and walking down the hall to meet with Sen Patrick Leahy (D-VT). Two total ideological opposites, but work together on #NTDs? Not a problem