>>BRUCE HAMILTON: IF PEOPLE HAVE ANY DOUBTS THE DELTA VARIANT OF CORONAVIRUS IS ONE
OF THE MOST TRANSMISSIBLE OUT
THERE DATA FROM THE CDC SHED
SOME NEW LIGHT ABOUT JUST HOW
DANGEROUS THAT HAPPENS TO BE
THE DOCUMENT INDICATES IT
APPEARS TO CAUSE MORE SEVERE
ILLNESS AND SPREAD AS EASILY
AS CHICKENPOX ALSO INDICATES
FULLY VACCINATED PEOPLE
MIGHT SPREAD THE VARIANT AT THE
SAME RATE AS THOSE WHO
ARE UNVACCINATED CDC DIRECTOR
DOCTOR ROCHELLE WALENSKY SAID I
THINK PEOPLE NEED TO UNDERSTAND
THAT WE ARE NOT CRYING. WOLF
HERE. THIS IS SERIOUS,
JOINING ME ON THE MORNING SHOW
ONCE AGAIN DOCTOR JONATHAN
KANTOR AND EPIDEMIOLOGIST WITH
THE PENN CENTER.
EPIDEMIOLOGIST MORNING. SO THE
CDC PUBLISHED DATA TO BACK
WE’LL ASK IS CONTROVERSIAL
DECISION TO HAVE EVEN
VACCINATED PEOPLE WHERE MASKS,
HE SAID THE MEASURES THIS
NATION NEEDS ARE EXTREME
AND WE’RE GETTING THE
VACCINATED OR THE UNVACCINATED
VACCINATED IS STILL A PRIORITY.
IT IS PERHAPS MORE IMPORTANT
RIGHT NOW TO REIN THIS IN AS
MASK-WEARING THE EFFECTIVE
ANSWER.
>> WELL MASK-WEARING WE ALL KNOW YOU KNOW FROM OVER A YEAR
OF EXPERIENCE IS GOING TO HAVE A MAJOR MAJOR POTENTIAL EFFECT.
YOU KNOW IT WILL REDUCE THE POTENTIAL FOR VACCINATED PEOPLE TO SPREAD.
THE VIRUS. BUT ALSO OF COURSE
REDUCE THE POTENTIAL FOR
UNVACCINATED PEOPLE TO PROTEST
THE VIRUS AND THE ISSUE HERE OF COURSE IS THAT WE DON’T KNOW WHO’S VACCINATED ON VACCINE.
WE WALK DOWN THE STREET AND IN
THE UNITED STATES. WE DON’T
WANT
TO HAVE IN A SITUATION WHERE WE
ARE REQUIRING VACCINE
PASSPORTS. WE’VE MADE THAT
QUITE CLEAR ON A POLITICAL
LEVEL AND SO IN ORDER TO REALLY
HAVE
AN AFFECTIVE THE PROCEDURE IN
EFFECT A WAY TO MAKE SURE THAT
THE MOST PEOPLE POSSIBLE ARE
AVOIDING TRANSMISSION. THAT’S
ONE OF THE REASONS THEY’RE
PUSHING FOR UNIVERSAL MASK
WEARING AND OF COURSE THAT’S
COUPLED WITH THIS IDEA
THAT YOU KNOW PEOPLE WHO ARE
INFECTED ULTIMATELY EVEN IF
THEY’VE BEEN VACCINATED TO HAVE
THE POTENTIAL TO SPREAD THE
VIRUS.
>> BY THE WAY THEY’RE WORKING
ON YOUR AUDIO ISSUE BACK IN
THE BOOTH IS IT LOST A LOT OF
PEOPLE THAT VACCINES PREVENT
MORE THAN 90% OF SEVERE
DISEASE. NOW THEY’RE NOT A 100%
EFFECTIVE, BUT THEY ARE LESS
EFFECTIVE IN PREVENTING
INFECTION AND TRANSMISSION.
>> YEAH, I THINK THAT’S A CRITICAL CRITICAL POINT AND THAT IS WHY YOU KNOW WHAT EVERY
POINT ALL OF US KIND OF A RE
EMPHASIZING THE IMPORTANCE OF
VACCINATION WE’VE BEEN HEARING
A LOT ABOUT THE PROBLEMS WITH
VACCINES. YOU KNOW THE REASON
WE’RE HEARING ABOUT THE
PROBLEMS WITH VACCINES, IT’S
SORT OF LIKE THE REASON WE’RE
HEARING ABOUT YOU KNOW IF THE
U.S. SLIPS FROM BEING NUMBER
ONE AND GOLD MEDALS, IT’S
BECAUSE WE’RE USUALLY DOING SO
SO WELL THAT IT’S A SHOCK THAT
WE’RE NOT NUMBER ONE IN GOLD
MEDALS, IT’S THE SAME IDEA HERE
THE VACCINES HAVE A MAJOR
MAJOR IMPACT WHETHER IT’S IN
TERMS OF CONTRACTING THE VIRUS
WHETHER IT’S IN TERMS OF
GETTING SEVERE DISEASE AT WHAT
WE’RE LOOKING AT A BREAKTHROUGH
INFECTIONS WHICH ARE NOT A
COMMON THING TO HAPPEN. BUT
WHEN THEY DO HAPPEN THAT CAN BE
POTENTIALLY CONCERNING AND
NOTHING IS A 100% AND THAT’S
WHY IT’S SO IMPORTANT FOR AS
MANY OF US AS POSSIBLE TO GET
VACCINATED TO HELP REDUCE THE
COMMUNITY SPREAD TO ASK YOU
ABOUT THAT DO YOU FIND THAT
THEY REALLY DON’T UNDERSTAND
BREAKTHROUGH INFECTIONS ARE OR
WHY THEY HAPPEN AFTER ALL THEY
SAY HEY I GOT THE SHOT, BUT
THE SHOT.
>> THE CHANCES OF GETTING
SEVERELY ILL ARE STATISTICALLY
LIMITED IT DOESN’T MEAN
THAT THERE NOT GOING TO TAKE A
CHANCE OF PERHAPS DEVELOP SOME
FORM OF OF COVID.
>> YOU KNOW IT’S INTERESTING I DOCTORS KIND OF INTUITIVELY AND PROBABLY TO ITS DETRIMENT IN
TERMS OF PUBLIC
HEALTH COMMUNICATION,
AUTOMATICALLY ARE USED TO THIS
IDEA OF RISK BENEFIT
CALCULATIONS WITH EVERYTHING SO
WHETHER IT’S IN TERMS OF THE
EARLY DATA WHAT PEOPLE ARE
SAYING HEY WE’RE WORRIED ABOUT
THE SAFETY OF
THE VACCINE. WELL DOCTORS YOU
KNOW THE NATURAL KNEE JERK
REACTION IS THAT WE KNOW THE
SAFETY OF THE VIRUS IS BAD SO
OBVIOUSLY ANY VACCINE IS
PROBABLY GOING TO BE BETTER AND
WAS IT REALLY MAKES THE VIRUS
WORSE. AND NOW WE’RE SEEING THE
SAME CROP UP HERE WHERE I THINK
WE’RE USED TO THIS IDEA THAT IF
SOMETHING IS 95% EFFECTIVE THAT
MEANS IT’S VERY VERY GOOD.
IT DOESN’T MEAN THAT YOU CAN GO
AND YOU KNOW DO WHATEVER THE
HECK YOU WANT TO DO AND NOT
HAVE ANY CHANCE OF CONTRACTING
THE VIRUS AND I THINK THAT’S CRITICAL TO REALIZE THAT THE VACCINE IS GOING TO REDUCE THE
CHANCE OF CONTRACTING THE
VIRUS. IT’S GOING TO
DRASTICALLY REDUCE SHOWN CHANCE
OF BEING HOSPITALIZED OR DIE
FROM THE VIRUS GOD FORBID,
BUT IT IS NOT GOING PREVENT THE
100% AND THAT’S WHY THOSE
NON-PHARMACEUTICAL
INTERVENTIONS THINGS LIKE MASK
WEARING ARE SO HELPFUL AS AND
AGILE.
>>BRUCE HAMILTON: AND
THANKFULLY, IT SEEMS PEOPLE ARE
STARTING TO RESPOND
AND THE MEDICAL EXPERTS I’VE
TALKED WITH SAY FORGET ABOUT
FLATTENING THE CURVE IN THE
IMMEDIATE FUTURE THINGS ARE
GOING
STRAIGHT UP OPTIMISTICALLY IS
THIS AN ISSUE WILL HAVE TO DEAL
WITH UNTIL WHAT END OF AUGUST
MAYBE MID SEPTEMBER.
>> YEAH, I THINK YOU’RE BEING VERY OPTIMISTIC ABOUT YOU KNOW I THINK THERE’S ONE THING WE’VE
LEARNED FROM THIS YOU KNOW, AND
THIS IS IN FROM THE VERY EARLY
DAYS THAT ANYONE WHO TRIES TO
MAKE ANY SOLID PREDICTIONS THAT
YOU’RE GOING TO GET YOURSELF
INTO A LOT OF TROUBLE BUT I
WOULD CERTAINLY BE SURPRISED
IF WE SAW A SUDDEN SOLUTION TO
THIS PROBLEM. YOU KNOW THAT
DELTA VARIANT IS SORT
OF LIKE COVID THE ORIGINAL BUT
MUCH MORE TRANSMISSIBLE
SO THAT IS A CONCERNING
SITUATION, PARTICULARLY BECAUSE
OUR VACCINATION NUMBERS ARE NOT
WHERE THEY NEED TO BE
SO I THINK YOU KNOW AUGUST
SEPTEMBER I THINK THIS FALL
COULD POTENTIALLY BECOME
A CHALLENGE. AND IT’S REALLY
GOING TO DEPEND IN PART ON HOW
WE RESPOND WHETHER IT’S WITH
NON PHARMACEUTICAL
INTERVENTIONS LIKE MASK WEARING
OR WHETHER IT’S WITH INCREASING
VACCINATION RATES AND THAT’S
WHAT’S SO IMPORTANT FOR ALL OF
US TO STEP UP AND DO THE RIGHT
THING FOR OURSELVES OUR
FAMILIES OUR COMMUNITY OUR
COUNTRY AND REALLY THE WORLD.
>> AND WHETHER OR NOT THINGS