THAT’S MORE LIVES LOST TO THIS
VIRUS THAN ANY OTHER NATION ON
EARTH.
>> A FEW HOURS AGO, PRESIDENT
JOE BIDEN ACKNOWLEDGED A NUMBER
THAT MANY OF US COULD NOT
FATHOM.
MORE THAN 500,000 PEOPLE IN THIS
COUNTRY HAVE DIED FROM THE
CORONAVIRUS.
IT’S A NUMBER SO LARGE AND
INDECIPHERABLE THAT IT RESISTS
CONTEXT.
IT IS QUITE SIMPLY TOO MUCH.
YOU CAN’T GIVE COMPARISONS.
YOU CAN TRY TO, BUT IT’S TOO
MUCH FOR US TO UNDERSTAND
COLLECTIVELY.
AND IT IS TOO MUCH TO BEAR FOR
THOSE MILLIONS AND MILLIONS WHO
HAVE LOST ONE PERSON, ONE PERSON
THEY LOVED AND CHERISHED.
THE PRESIDENT AND THE FIRST LADY
ALONG WITH VICE PRESIDENT KAEMSM
HARRIS AND THE SECOND GENTLEMAN
COMMEMORATED THE LIVES LOST AT
THE WHITE HOUSE.
THE BEFLTSLLS OF THE NATIONAL
CATHEDRAL RANG 500 TIMES TO COMMEMORATE THOSE WE’VE LOST.
COMMEMORATE THOSE WE’VE LOST.
[ BELL RINGING ]
WE’LL BE LIVING WITH THE
AFTERMATH OF THIS FOR A VERY,
VERY LONG TIME.
AS SHOCKING AND HORRIBLE AS IT
IS TO THINK ABOUT WHAT IT MEANS
TO LOSE A HALF MILLION PEOPLE,
THERE’S ALSO THIS TRUTH, HERE IN
THIS DARK PANDEMIC WINTER.
THIS IS THE VERY FIRST TIME IN
THE COURSE OF THIS PANDEMIC, IN
THE LAST YEAR, THAT IT SEEMS
POSSIBLE THAT WE ACTUALLY ARE
TURNING A CORNER, THAT THE WORST
MIGHT BE BEHIND US, AND THINGS
MAY NOT GET WORSE BEFORE THEY
ACTUALLY GET BETTER AND KEEP
GETTING BETTER.
TO HELP GET A BETTER SENSE OF
WHERE WE ARE NOW, I THINK I’M
JOINED BY AN EPIDEMIOLOGIST,
SENIOR DIRECTOR OF SYSTEM-WIDE
SPECIAL PATHOGENS FOR NEW YORK
CITY’S PUBLIC HEALTH SYSTEM WHO
HAS BEEN DEALING WITH THIS ON A
DAY-TO-DAY BIASES FOR AN ENTIRE
YEAR.
FIRST, DOCTOR, LET’S JUST TALK
ABOUT THE COMMEMORATION TODAY.
I’VE BEEN WORKING ON A PIECE OF
WRITING ABOUT THIS, ABOUT HOW WE
THINK ABOUT THIS LOSS.
AND IT IS JUST -- IT IS NOTABLE
TO ME HOW LITTLE COLLECTIVE
PUBLIC MOURNING THERE HAS BEEN,
PARTLY BECAUSE WE’RE IN THE
MIDST OF IT.
HOW IMPORTANT DO YOU THINK IT
IS, THIS
MEMORIALIZATION?
>> ABSOLUTELY IMPORTANT.
IT’S IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THE
NUMBER OF LIVES THAT WE’VE LOST,
THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE THAT HAVE
BEEN AFFECTED BY THIS PANDEMIC.
WE SPEAK OF TODAY AS A
MILESTONE.
IT’S THE POPULATION OF ATLANTA.
IT’S A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER.
AS PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN
MENTIONED, IN ORDER FOR US TO
MOVE FORWARD, WE NEED TO HEAL.
AND WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE
HUMANIZE THESE NUMBERS, THAT’S
SO IMPORTANT.
FOR ME AND MY COLLEAGUES AND SO
MANY HEALTH CARE WORKERS THAT
HAVE BEEN BATTLING THIS
PANDEMIC, FROM A PUBLIC HEALTH
STANDPOINT, WE FACE SO MANY
DIFFERENT CHALLENGES, THE
CARNAGE WE’VE SEEN IN THE PATH
YEAR IS JUST UNFATHOMABLE.
BUT WE’RE MEETING THIS MILESTONE
WITH HOPE, THAT WE’RE SEEING
DECLINES IN HOSPITALIZATIONS,
AND THAT TREND IS CERTAINLY
VERY, VERY POSITIVE.
>> SO I DID A MONOLOGUE LAST
WEEK WHERE I SORT OF MADE THE
CASE FOR OPTIMISM, RIGHT?
HERE’S ALL THE DATA YOU COULD
ACCRUE TO MAKE THE CASE FOR
OPTIMISM.
WE DON’T EVEN THE FUTURE,
THERE’S BEST CASE AND WORST CASE
SCENARIOS.
YOU RESPONDED WITH A KIND OF "I
AGREE WITH THIS," A BUNCH OF
OTHER EPIDEMIOLOGISTS DO AS
WELL, OTHERS THINK IT’S TOO
ROSY.
AS SOMEONE WHO WAS THERE THE
FIRST DAY IN THE NEW YORK CITY
PUBLIC HEALTH SYSTEM, DEALING
WITH THE WORST OUTBREAK IN THE
WORLD AT THIS TIME A YEAR AGO IN
NEW YORK CITY, WHERE ARE YOU AT
IN TERMS OF WHETHER YOU THINK
THERE’S LIGHT JUST AHEAD?
>> THERE IS ABSOLUTELY LIGHT AT
THE END OF THE TUNNEL.
I CERTAINLY AM CAUTIOUSLY
OPTIMISTIC.
I’M HOPEFUL, LOOKING AT THE
TRENDS.
THIS IS NOT AN ARTIFICIALITY IN
TERMS OF THE NUMBER OF
HOSPITALIZATIONS AND DEATHS ON
THE DECLINE.
YOU’RE SEEING A SIGNIFICANT AND
STEADY DECLINE.
IN THIS CURRENT PERIOD THAT
WE’RE IN, IN THIS PANDEMIC, WE
HAVE A HUGE WEAPON, WHICH ARE
VACCINES, VERY, VERY EFFECTIVE
AND SAFE VACCINES.
THAT CERTAINLY CAN TURN THE
CORNER, THAT CAN REALLY END THE
PANDEMIC AS WE KNOW IT.
IT’S JUST MAKING SURE THAT WE,
AS YOU’RE HEARING ABOUT THE RACE
AGAINST THE VARIANTS AND THE
CASES AND INCREASING THE
VACCINATION, THAT’S VERY, VERY
IMPORTANT.
>> I WANT TO ASK YOU ABOUT
MESSAGING.
IN PUBLIC HEALTH, MESSAGING IS
POLICY.
AND I UNDERSTAND THERE’S A KIND
OF PRUDENTIAL CAUTION, DR. FAUCI
TALKING ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY
WE’LL STILL BE WEARING MASKS IN
2022, AND A REAL HESITANCY TO
TELL PEOPLE, LOOK, IF YOU’VE GOT
GRANDPARENTS WHO HAVE BEEN
VACCINATED, AND IT’S BEEN A FEW
WEEKS, BRING THEM INTO THE
HOUSE, LET THEM HUG THE KIDS.
I GET THAT.
IT ALSO SEEMS TO ME THAT SENDING
THE MESSAGE THAT THERE IS
SOMETHING DIFFERENT AND BETTER
ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE
VACCINE, SEEMS PRETTY CRUCIAL IN
THE MESSAGING HERE.
THE MESSAGE THAT HEY, NOTHING’S
REALLY GOING TO CHANGE AFTER THE
VACCINE SEEMS A LITTLE
SELF-DEFEATING.
>> I AGREE, WE HAVE BEEN MORE
COVID OPTIMISM, ESPECIALLY AFTER
THE VACCINES.
WE NEED TO PAINT THE PICTURE FOR
THE PUBLIC THAT BETTER DAYS ARE
AHEAD.
IF TWO INDIVIDUALS ARE
VACCINATED, THEY CAN CERTAINLY
RESUME THE PRE-COVID LIFE,
MEETING INDOORS, GOING WITHOUT
MASKS, THINGS LIKE THAT.
I HOPE WE’LL HAVE GUIDANCE
COMING OUT VERY SOON ABOUT THE
POLICY CHANGE, WHAT PEOPLE CAN
DO ONCE THEY’RE VACCINATED.
I GET MESSAGES FROM FAMILY AND
FRIENDS ALL THE TIME, I’M
VACCINATED, I HAVE A SON WHO IS
VACCINATED, CAN WE MEET EACH