Thread by @axios

WATCH: @sam_baker & @bryanrwalsh host a conversation on COVID testing in a post-vaccine world featuring @michaelmina_lab, @JenniferNuzzo and @mtosterholm.
twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1…

.@JenniferNuzzo: "While vaccines are incredibly important...the reality is the vast majority of us are still not protected from this virus by having been vaccinated. That is all the more reason why all of the measures that we have been using for the last year remain essential."

@JenniferNuzzo On vaccine passports: "I think passports are kind of a shortcut that take our eyes off the ball of needing to make sure that all countries have access. And we won't be in a good situation if we just exacerbate the disparities that already exist."

.@michaelmina_lab on testing: "Pre-COVID testing has largely been a medical diagnostic tool...But in the midst of a pandemic, we can switch the purpose of testing from just purely a diagnostic test to actually a test that is going to help mitigate spread at the community level."

@michaelmina_lab On using rapid testing as a way to help safely open the economy: "If people walking into that building use a test at home before work or at the doorway before school, whatever that might be, it can reduce any chances of spread, say, by 90%. And that is a major win."

@michaelmina_lab .@mtosterholm on the rise of COVID variants: "Our only hope right now is that we as a country take this seriously and do whatever we can to limit transmission...And yet, we've never been more open as a country since the very first days of the pandemic."

@michaelmina_lab @mtosterholm .@mtosterholm on the importance of COVID testing in the future: "We have billions of people in low-income countries, some in middle-income countries who will never have access to vaccine. And where those cases are occurring in those countries, we will also see variants spin out."