- And the U. S.
is on that exponential curve right now.
So, we're in for a world of trouble,
I'm afraid, in the next month or two.
But there are things people can do, and I hope -- -...
think that vaccine is the answer to everything.
We can't do it without vaccines, Jake,
but we can do a lot more with other things.
Testing, for example, both yourself and your family
when you're getting ready to do something --
go out into the community,
or when you're gonna have people over to your own house.
And that's the reason why we're stressing,
and part of the president's winter plan,
is expanding, greatly,
the availability of testing for people,
particularly the point of care that you can do youreslf,
and get a result in 15 minutes.
- We were traveling to other states
while they saw their surges last summer,
learned from their hospitals. We brought C.
E. O.
s of our hospitals across the country,
to kind of learn how they were managing internal surges.
And now, we're really kind of releasing
that plan, if you will.
So, as Dr. Fauci talked about,
testing is huge.
- Breakthrough infections, Chuck.
There's no doubt about that.
The difference between a vaccinated
and boosted person who has an infection
and someone who has an infection who's never been vaccinated --
a major difference, with regards to the risk of severity.
- To significantly reduce the risk of the Omicron variant,
three doses of the vaccine are needed.
And by the way, Chuck, this is normal with many other vaccines.
Vaccinations are going to be very much part of our solution,
here, and everybody should take advantage of them.
But they're not perfect.
This is where I get upset,
because people point to anecdotes of somebody
who got sick even though they had been vaccinated,
and said, "There, you see, it doesn't work."
That's way too simplistic.
If you've gotten sick after vaccination,
the chances are, you're gonna have a pretty mild case.
You'll have the sniffles, maybe,
or are sick for a day or two with a fever.
But you won't be in the ICU.