At what point do we define such public remarks made by former or current elected officials as hate speech/rhetoric? Since June 1, 2021, I estimate 200,000 unvaccinated Americans lost their lives to Covid because they refused vaccinations despite their widespread availability.
Here’s our official announcement from @TexasChildrens@BCM_TropMed on our partnership with @biological_e to vaccinate the world beginning with this EUA in India 🇮🇳
Here's why this is a BFD: 1. BioE now has 150 million doses ready now, and will be making 100 million per month. 2. In so doing our @TexasChildrens Vaccine Center has just matched or DOUBLED the US Government current commitment to global vaccine equity.
3. We technology transferred our vaccine and helped in its co-development with BioE with NO PATENT and no strings attached. 4. As a result it should be the least expensive COVID vaccine available yet
Many thanks @NicolleDWallace for hosting me on recent @nytimes report from Enid OK. Here’s how bad things have gotten: 200,000 Americans who were defiant and refused vaccinations lost their lives since June 1, 2021 from COVID19….
Antiscience aggression is now a leading cause of death among young/middle aged adults in the US especially in Texas where I work + other red states. The disproportionate deaths in red states well documented by @nytimes (“red covid” article from @DLeonhardt) @KFF our @TheLancet
Many thanks @VelshiMSNBC@AliVelshi for hosting me, I expressed my concern that we come out the other side of this Christmas weekend to find our US health system in disarray or even partial collapse in some parts of the nation. The reasons…
1. Despite all the happy talk from Wash DC and Atlanta, omicron is serious pathogen and hospitalizations are accelerating. 2. Too few HCWs knocked out of the workforce with breakthrough Covid. We’ve seen how mortality climbs when ICUs get overwhelmed. That process is now underway
3. Testing is a debacle. Those long lines? Remember for everyone who got tested, several others walked away disgusted or demoralized by the long wait. 4. Two of our 3 mabs don’t work vs omicron 5. Paxlovid unavailable, Remdesvir requires parental administration.
Today with @AmaraCNN I said all variants of concern have their unique challenges and for omicron in US it’s the fact that hospitalizations are now starting to accelerate and even though it may be as severe, it’s severe enough and exacerbated by the fact that so many HCWs are home
…with breakthrough symptomatic and asymptomatic Covid. We’ve seen last 2 years how mortality climbs when hospitals ICUs become overwhelmed and that could happen with our covid-induced depletions in our healthcare workforce. Adding to the mix…
1. People are walking away from the long lines at diagnostic testing centers, frustrated but going ahead with events even though they may unknowingly be +. Testing is a debacle. 2. Two of our 3 mabs don’t work 3. Remdisivir complicated to administer, Paxlovid not available
Back in Jan-Feb when I said mRNA vaccines were 3-dose vaccines and we’ll need boosters in 6-12 months, almost everyone pushed back, including many in the Fed Govt, FDA CDC advisory committees. I did think 3rd dose would last longer (“3 and done” I said) but the data are the data
And the data from UK and Israel showing virus neutralizing antibodies vs omicron not holding up after a booster. To be sure 3 doses still holding up well vs most serious infections but vs symptomatic illness not great, especially a couple of months after the booster.
Hence my recommendation for a second booster for HCWs. Not advocating yet for other populations although I see Israel 🇮🇱 Govt has extended to both HCWs and >60. Both US and Israel appear to support 2nd boosters for immunocompromised
Many thanks @Boris_Sanchez for hosting me today as I discuss the situation in NY NJ DC where hospitalizations are now going up and healthcare and other essential workers are experiencing breakthrough covid and therefore being knocked out of the workforce
My concern is that this could become a difficult situation since in 2020-21 we’ve seen how mortality rates go up when hospitals become overwhelmed. So my suggestions are as follows…
1. Take the rise in hospitalizations seriously, the US is different from UK in a number of ways and we shouldn’t just assume omicron won’t produce severe illness. We just had our first omicron death in Houston, for instance, someone with previous infection