Doctor Burks I know I have
a limited amount of time.
I want to begin with this, you know,
covid hospitalizations in North Texas.
They just hit a record more than
3000 for the first time on Sunday.
That's a 97% increase
here since November 1st.
What do you think about the
coronavirus response in Texas?
You know, I'm just really pleased
that the governor kept those gates
in practice and his policies so that
when counties increase their cases,
they go into a mass mandate.
They go into restricted indoor dining,
restricted bars, and really telling
the American telling the Texans.
But they have to change their behavior.
Texans right now have to
change their behavior.
We have to stop the spread within Texas.
You can see what's happening in Dallas.
You can see what's happening across Texas.
What happened in El Paso can
happen in every city in Texas.
No one is different.
They need to mitigate and they
need to be vigilant and they need
to stop the spread of this virus.
We know what to do, but right now,
with the way the cases look in Texas,
we need to stop it now.
And I know it's tough in the holiday season.
I know we're asking people
to make sacrifices.
We are asking you to make sacrifices until
we can get your beloved grandparents,
aunts and parents vaccinated.
We know now.
That they're going to be in
tier AB or C majority of them,
and we can hold on until we get
individuals vaccinated and save as
many Texans as we can and Doctor Burks,
it's my understanding
that the first wave of the vaccine
and it's the understanding of many
that the first wave of the vaccine
is for health care workers and
those who live in long term care.
Why is it today that Texas Governor
Greg Abbott's getting the vaccine as
well as we've seen President elect
Biden and other political leaders?
You know, I think they're trying to make
it very clear from the American people,
and that's why they've gone on TV to get it.
They haven't gotten it secretly.
They've gotten it in public so they
can show that that needle goes in
your arm an nothing there fine.
And there I think that will really
help reduce vaccine hesitancy.
I think the more bipartisan individuals
who get this vaccine to show that
leadership is really critical at this time.
I want to thank the healthcare workers
who have stood up to get this vaccine.
They know how efficacious as it is,
they know this is going to prevent
them from getting serious disease.
It will relieve some anxiety
they have been in 10 months,
exposing themselves to virus
over and over and over again.
And as millions of Americans get vaccinated,
will be able to see if there
is any rare side effects.
So as we move forward and down
through those tears will be able to
understand not only how it's going
to protect our vulnerable Americans,
but how it's going to protect
those individuals in the frontline.
How soon will we know if these vaccines
prevent infection and asymptomatic
spread? A brilliant question and I think
that's the question on all of us in our minds
that have studied immunology for so long.
It is more difficult to prevent
'cause we call sterilizing immunity
to prevent actual any infection.
It is a lot easier to prevent disease because
your immune response kicks in early and so.
That's why it's going to be
really important to look at that.
We have to really make the assumption
right now that the vaccine is
going to protect against disease,
and until we know if it
prevents against infection,
we're going to have to continue
to do those things that we know
between mask and physical distancing,
avoiding gatherings we're going
to have to continue that until
we get that data and
kind of going off of that Doctor.
Vin Gupta from Harborview in
Seattle said on MSNBC that after
your second dose of the vaccine,
that does not mean that
you should be traveling.
Or that you are liberated from wearing masks,
to which Texas Senator Ted Cruz
responded by saying that comment is
anti science and it's only focused
on absolute government control
of every aspect of our lives.
Should we be listening to the Doctor
there after the second dose of the
vaccine or should we be listening
to Texas senator so you know,
this is the distressing thing I think to
every public health person to see how
this virus has become a dividing line
and what our politics and priorities are.
I think we may get to the point where
we have the clear science that this
protects against infection and it
protects most importantly against
transmitting the virus to others.
We just don't have that data yet.
So while we don't have that data,
we all need to still take those
precautions now as we get more and more
people immunized and we see what we
call that are one that replication rate,
the ability of that virus to transmit
when we see that coming down.
Due to vaccination,
not just decrease hospitalizations,
but decrease and decrease fatalities,
but actually decrease cases will be
able to really say that these vaccines
as we get close to herd immunity are
actually protecting the population
from transmitting the virus to others.
We're not there yet,
we will get there,
it's just going to take us a matter
of weeks to months.
Last few questions for
Doctor Burks as we end as we near the
end of this very challenging year.
When you look back, do you have any
regrets and how do you think history will
remember the work of you and your team?
Well, I think the the good news is
is there will be a permanent record
because obviously I evaluated the data
every single day and wrote an analysis
of my understanding of the virus.
But also my understanding of communities
and how communities were reacting to
the public health messaging and how
we had to adapt our message so that
people could hear it and understand it.
I think in looking back really understanding
how our messaging was perceived when
I started going out the end of June.
I went out because of that.
There's always two sides of public health.
There's health and it's all the science
and the data and the guidelines.
And there's public.
How the public hears those guidelines,
how they internalize those guidelines,
how they change their behaviors or not
based on those guidelines and people
hear things differently until you go and
listen to them and actually hear them.
You can't really modify your message.
So if I was going to do things differently,
I would have gone out.
Earlier.
As soon as the lockdown was over to
understand decisions that states were
making that communities were making and
understanding how have been more effective.
Inconsistent messaging.
And
Doctor Burks, I know you've
addressed at the last few days,
but your post Thanksgiving travel
was brought up in the headlines this
weekend and the and the travel of other
leaders across this country has been
brought up in the headlines as well.
Do you fear that travel from
leaders in in political positions,
those we trust to lead us through
this virus is impacting the trust
that Americans are placing in in
people like you first and foremost,
my Thanksgiving was not a thing.
Giving that way I've ever
experienced in my 60 some years.
Uh, this was only my immediate household.
It was a regular dinner to give my
daughter who is 32 weeks pregnant.
We had purchased a home where we
could provide additional isolation,
separate from everyone by
vehicle 2 1/2 hours away.
I had no idea how people
would interpret that.
That was a safe house house
where no one else.
Was there was no one else in there?
I did travel by plane or train.
I didn't gather with outside
family members and so, but I went.
I could see how it was being perceived,
which I had obviously no idea of.
Because, you know,
I don't ever even take this mask off
on as an example to the American
people about what we need to do even
indoors to protect one another as
well as outdoors and in public spaces
in our personal space is what we
need to do to protect each other.
I can promise you that over
this holiday season,
as long as I'm in any leadership role,
I will not be traveling even to my.
My home,
which I know you can see that a lot of
public health officials traveled to
their second home continuously and safely.
I will add,
but I do not want to lead any
misperceptions in the American
people of what we need to do
when we talk about gathering,
we do not want you to gather outside
of your immediate household until
we can get all of our vulnerable
Americans immunized.
We are so close.
And we protected them for so long.
And I think we can do it.
We know now they're either in one
A1B1C of their vulnerable and their
older they're going to get vaccinated.
And we can put our effort into
protecting them until that great day
that they've gotten their second shot.
And there are several weeks out from that,
and we know they are protected.
And then Lastly Doctor Burks out how
are you feeling about timeline moving
forward and when members of the general
public in American can expect that
shot in the arm and their vaccination
as well if they choose to get it.
You know, I think with the
projection of what the companies
are making and their ability to
check their sterility and release.
Obviously you know the vaccines are
produced and then they're put in
vials and then you've got to make
sure that they are sterile and that
everything is perfect with that vaccine.
And then they're released to
the American people.
And that projection really shows
that we can get through these
frontline health care workers are
long term care facilities are
individuals over 75 and then over
65 and those with comorbidities.
And those frontline essential workers.
We can get through those those
particular tears through December,
January, February,
March and then there really is the question
when people ask me about all Americans.
We haven't even studied yet.
The Under 18's or the under Sixteens and
really understanding the efficacy of the
vaccine there and the safety profile there.
So that's work.
We still need to do and that will
probably take us through the spring
in the summer to really understand
and get to what Americans would
perceived as all Americans vaccinated.
Doctor Brooks, thank you for your time.
Have a Merry Christmas.
Happy Holidays, thank you very much.