Many thanks Jim ⁦@Acosta⁩ for hosting me with my friend colleague ⁦@ashishkjha⁩ Covid now accelerating in Southern states where vaccine refusal and defiance is high due to antiscience aggression from the political far right, including some members US Congress
This is a self inflicted wound for the nation. The tragic reality is that if not for the antivaccine antiscience aggression from a group of US Congressional members and far right cable networks we could have possibly fended off delta. We would still need to vaccinate the world
When the history of COVID19 in America is written we’ll have to face the reality that far right extremism helped lead the return of COVID19 in the Summer of 2021
Here’s my article in @jclinicalinvest on how the antivaccine movement linked to far right extremism in 2015 under the phony health freedom banner, especially here in Texas jci.org/articles/view/…

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More from @PeterHotez

23 Jul
1/4 I see #FoxNewsKills trending? But as I write in @PLOSBiology it's that ANTI-SCIENCE KILLS. Anti-science = major reason why >600,000 Americans lost their lives from COVID-19 due to defiance of masks, social distancing and now vaccines. journals.plos.org/plosbiology/ar…
2/4 Anti-science killed more Americans in 2020-21 than terrorism, cyberattacks, nuke proliferation combined. Our US Govt builds in infrastructre to combat those things but not anti-science. For >20 yrs I've fought a lonely struggle to get US Govt to take anti-science seriously
3/4 We can defeat anti-science but it requires US Govt to recognize it's importance and not resort to simple throw away statements like blaming Facebook. Anti-science has a sophisticated infrastructure and in the case of bio-sciences the three greatest offenders currently are...
Read 5 tweets
21 Jul
NEW THREAD on questions I’m asking (myself) for potential 3rd mRNA immunization in eligible adults/adolescents as a means to prevent pediatric infections:
Given preliminary evidence of 1,000X higher viral loads and shedding in those infected with delta virological.org/t/viral-infect…
If that holds up, presumably a reason for high community spread and higher Ro, maybe as high as 6

Question 1: Are we seeing a rise in pediatric cases and hospitalizations as a result?
Question 2: Given this would require likely at least 85% vaccine coverage to slow transmission and it looks like we won’t achieve that: should we consider an alternative way to slow transmission to the unvaccinated, esp children?
Read 5 tweets
21 Jul
I’m concerned about the accelerating number of children with COVID19 in pediatric intensive care units PICUs in areas where vaccinations are low and delta is accelerating. katv.com/news/local/ark…
As I said on @OutFrontCNN tonight not sure that delta specifically targets kids, it’s just that delta is sweeping up kids as it infects all unvaccinated populations
Read 4 tweets
20 Jul
Many thanks ⁦@ErinBurnett⁩ for hosting us ⁦@OutFrontCNN⁩ I discussed new info re J&J vaccine vs delta variant in ⁦@biorxivpreprint⁩ showing sharp declines in virus neutralizing antibodies in those immunized with one dose. However this is in vitro test tube study
It’s likely the single dose vaccination still protects altogether possibly at lower levels similar to what was seen vs B.1.351 from South Africa. So far I’m not aware of hospitalizations among those who got J&J but it’s possible a 2nd dose might be recommended down the line
Looking at the phase 1 and 2 data from last year, those who received 2 doses of the J&J vaccine had really high levels of virus neutralizing antibodies and I’ve always felt this was better as a 2 dose vaccine. But we’ll see what the company and regulators say
Read 4 tweets
20 Jul
To get your arms around how MTG’s Twitter suspension for antivaccine comments connects with the “disinformation dozen” or FB or Russian bots: My Ghidorah 3-headed monster framework my help organize your thoughts? I discussed last night on ⁦@11thHourthedailybeast.com/biden-battles-…
And accompanied by really cool 😎 70s style album cover art, and don’t forget the free sci fi clip so you can see the real antivaccine monster in action
Last night with Brian Williams @11thHour @MSNBC I explained how the antivaccine monster evolved from autism links to its current status and my decades-long history engaging in battle
Read 5 tweets
18 Jul
Our County Judge. Born in Colombia, 30 yo grad of @Stanford, brilliant beyond belief, and a compassionate really nice person. Come to Houston, between @LinaHidalgoTX + our amazing Mayor @SylvesterTurner, African American graduate of @Harvard_Law we are the future of this nation
Bottom line: If you want to make a difference in the world, have some ideas, we're still the place to build the American Dream. Ignore all the bad press. Houston is beyond amazing.
Hot, flat, and cheap. The most accepting city in the US. If you have a good idea, and are willing to work hard, there's no stopping you. Amazing arts and literary scene, I reinvented myself as a writer here. Scientific institutions dwarf anything back east. Food is amazing.
Read 5 tweets

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