♪ ♪ ♪ HEY EVERYBODY
WELCOME BACK TO "THE LATE SHOW," ALREADY IN PROGRESS.
FOLKS, MY GUEST TONIGHT IS A MEDICAL CONTRIBUTOR FOR CBS NEWS
AND THE CO-CHAIR OF THE GLOBAL HEALTH SECURITY CONSORTIUM.
PLEASE WELCOME DR. DAVID AGUS! ♪ ♪ ♪
( APPLAUSE )
THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE. AS I WAS EXPLAINING TO THE
PEOPLE BEFORE, YOU'RE A BIG DEAL IN THE WHOLE KNOWING ABOUT COVID
WORLD. THE PEOPLE THAT I CALL, OR WE
CALL AROUND HERE TO FIND OUT WHAT'S GOING TO BE HAPPENING,
THEY GENERALLY CALL YOU AND SAY, "THIS IS WHATTING AUS SAID."
I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE NICE SINCE WE'RE GETTING ALL THIS NEW
INFORMATION THIS FALL, WE THOUGHT WE KNEW WERE THINGS WERE
GOING, AND DELTA CAME, AND WE THOUGHT WE'LL RIDE THIS OUT.
AND THEN OMICRON IS SHOWING UP. I WANT TO GET A BASELINE READING
FROM THE WORLD OF COVID IF YOU CAN DO THAT.
>> GOT IT, I CAN DO THAT. >> Stephen: IN TWO YEARS,
WE'VE SEEN 12 COVID VARIANTS. THE NEWEST IS OMICRON, AS I
SAID. THERE'S A MARKET IN THE MEDIA
FOR GRABBING OUR ATTENTION AND MAKING EVERYTHING BRAKING NEWS--
>> WAY TOO MUCH OF A MARKET. >> Stephen: AND FLAMING
CHRISTMAS TREES.
THOUGH? >> ABOUT OMICRON?
>> Stephen: YES. >> SO RIGHT NOW, DELTA IS,
OBVIOUSLY, HERE IN THE UNITED STATES.
99% OF CASES, 119,000 PEOPLE NEWLY DIAGNOSED TODAY AND 1600
DEATHS TODAY FROM DELTA VARIANT IN THE UNITED STATES.
>> Stephen: NOW THAT'S-- >> WE CAN'T FORGET ABOUT THAT.
>> Stephen: THAT'S A LEVEL WE HAVE NOT NOT SEEN UNTIL LATE
WINTER, EARLY SPRING OF LAST YEAR.
>> RIGHT. IT'S A PERFECT STORM.
COVID FATIGUE, IT'S COLDER, AND PEOPLE ARE GOING INDOORS, AND
THESE ARE MAINLY PEOPLE UNVACCINATED IN THE I.C.U.s.
OVER 90% OF THE PEOPLE IN THE I.C.U.S ARE UNTHE VACCINATED.
OMICRON WAS ORIGINALLY OBSERVED IN AFRICA, AND IT IS A VARIANT
THAT IS RADICALLY DIFFERENT. OVER A MILLION YEARS OF HUMAN
EVOLUTION, OUR GENOME CHANGED 1%.
OVER ONE DAY, THIS VIRUS CAN CHANGE 1%, AND IT DID.
AND SO THERE ARE 40 DIFFERENT CHANGES IN THE SPIKE PROTEIN.
SO IT'S VERY DIFFERENT. AND IT DID SO, AND IT'S GETTING
AROUND SOME OF THE EARLY VACCINES.
AND THAT'S WHAT WORRIED US. SO THIS IS TREMENDOUSLY
INFECTIOUS, ALMOST TWICE AS INFEX AS DELTA.
SO ON NOVEMBER 23, THERE WAS ONE CASE IN SOUTH AFRICA.
NOW IT'S 90% OF THE CASES IN THE COUNTRY.
THAT'S IN A MATTER OF WEEKS. SO IT SPREADS LIKE WILDFIRE.
>> Stephen: IS IT TRUE THAT PREVIOUS, NATURAL IMMUNITY FROM
HAVING HAD COVID IS NOT APPLICABLE IN THIS CASE, THAT IT
GOES AROUND THAT. DO WE KNOW THAT?
>> PREVIOUS COVID DOES NOT REALLY HELP YOU WITH THE
OMICRON, AND TWO SHOTS OF THE VACCINE PROBABLY DOESN'T HELP
YOU THAT MUCH WITH OMICRON. >> Stephen: WHEN THAT WAS
ANYWHERE FROM MID-80s TO EARLY 90s, IN TERMS OF THE EFFICACY
TO KEEPING YOU SAFE. >> 100%.
IT WORKED AGAINST THE OTHER VARIANTS REMARKABLY WELL.
WE GOT FREAKING LUCKY WITH THESE VACCINES.
THEY WERE AWESOME. THERE WEREN'T REAL SIDE EFFECTS
AND THEY PROTECTED SERIOUS ILLNESS IN ALMOST EVERYBODY
WHICH IS REALLY WILD. BUT OMICRON IS GOING AROUND IT A
LITTLE BIT, AND THAT'S WHAT GOT US WORRY GLD PFIZER SAID, I
THINK IT WAS JUST TODAY, THAT THREE SHOTS PROTECTS YOU AGAINST
OMICRON. >> THAT'S REALLY COOL, THE
BOOSTER SHOT. EVERYONE SAYS THE BOOSTER SHOTS
MEANS THE VACCINES ARE NOT GREAT.
THE VIRUS CHANGED. THE VACCINES WERE MADE FOR THE
ORIGINAL VARIANT IDENTIFIED IN WUHAN, AND NOW WE HAVE A NEW
VIRUS, BASICALLY, BECAUSE IT REALLY CHANGED.
>> Stephen: IT'S NOT A NEW VACCINE, JUST MORE OF IT.
>> RIGHT, A THIRD SHOT, A BOOSTER SHOT, RAISES IMMUNITY
30-FOLD, AND BY DOING THAT YOU HAVE ENOUGH IMMUNITY TO FIGHT
OFF OMICRON. WHEN YOU GET THIS VACCINE THERE
ARE 10 SPOTS YOU ATTACK ON THAT SPIKE PROTEIN.
OMICRON LOST SEVEN OF THEM. SO YOU NEED A REALLY HIGH LEVEL
TO BE ABLE TO GET RID OF IT WITH THOSE THREE SPOTS.
A BOOSTER SHOT GIVES THAT. THAT DATA FROM PFIZER, I WAS
CHEERING THIS MORNING, THAT WAS GREAT.
>> Stephen: NOW, I'M A MODERNA MAN--
>> I'M SORRY. >> Stephen: THAT'S WHAT THEY
HAD WHEN I WALKED INTO THE ABANDONED K-MART.
THEY GAVE ME THE MODERNA. YOU KNOW, IT WAS ONE OF THOSE
PLACES, YOU KNOW. DOES THIS APPLY TO MODERNA, TOO?
DO WE KNOW THE THIRD SHOT OF MODERNA OR A SECOND SHOT OF J&J,
OR DO WE KNOW, OR DO WE MIX AND MATCH AT THIS POINT?
>> WE DON'T KNOW BUT WE WILL. >> Stephen: YOU DON'T KNOW,
BUT YES. THAT'S SCIENCE, RIGHT?
>> YES, THE SPIKE PROTEIN IS VERY SIMILAR IN ALL OF THEMPLE,
SO WE SHOULD SEE EXACTLY THAT SAME RESULT WITH MODERNA.
THE DATA IS AVAILABLE YET. IN SOUTH AFRICA THEY GAVE
PFIZER, AND THERE WAS A LOT OF SCIENCE DONE IN SOUTH AFRICA AND
THEY DIDN'T HAVE MODERNA THERE. MODERNA STUDIES ARE ONGOING NOW.
IT WILL COME OUT IN THE NEXT STUDY.
ANY OF THE BOOSTERS WILL GIVE YOU PROTECTION RIGHT NOW, WE
THINK, FROM OMICRON. >> Stephen: NOW, YOU USED A
TERM A MOMENT AGO THAT I'VE BEEN HEARING A LOT, WHICH IS, OH,
THERE'S A 25-FOLD OR 41-FOLD OR 75-FOLD INCREASE OR DECREASE.
WHAT IS THIS FOLD? BECAUSE A YEAR AGO, THEY WERE
JUST SAYING IT WAS EITHER 75% EFFECTIVE OR 82 OR 93.
WHY ARE WE TALKING ABOUT FOLDS NOW?
>> BECAUSE WHEN WE KIND OF GO INTO THESE NUMBERS IT MAKES US
LOOK SMARTER AND THAT'S OUR GOAL HERE.
WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT IS THE AMOUNT OF ANTIBODIES IN THE
BLOOD. ANTIBODIES BIND ON TO A VIRUS
AND CLEAR IT AWAY. AND YOU GET ABOUT A 40-FOLD
INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF THOSE MOLECULES WHEN YOU GET THAT
BOOSTER. >> Stephen: HOW DOES THAT
TRANSLATE INTO PERCENTAGE EFFECTIVENESS, WHICH WAS THE
STANDARD WE WERE BEING TOLD A YEAR AGO?
>> UM, THEY'RE NOT REALLY APPLICABLE TO EACH OTHER.
STANDARD EFFECTIVENESS BEFORE, WAS 90% YOU WOULDN'T GET SICK,
AND IF YOU DID GET SICK YOU WEREN'T VERY SICK.
WITH THIS BOOSTER IT'S GO TO BE ABOUT THE SAME.
THAT'S THE GOOD. >> Stephen: WE HAVE TO TAKE A
QUCK BREAK, BUT DON'T GO ANYWHERE.
WE'LL BE BACK WITH MORE DR. DAVID AGUS.