geoff: A new covid wave is
accelerating across the U.S.,
with cases rising in almost
every state.
New daily cases are up by more
than 50% from just two weeks
ago, while covid related
hospitalizations rose by 12%
over the last week.
Meantime, the CDC has now signed
off on pfizer covid boosters for
5 to 11-year-olds.
Joining us for more on all of
this is white house covid
response director Dr. Ashish
jha.
It's great to have you with us.
Dr. Jha: Good evening.
Thanks for having me here, Jeff.
Geoff: And the white house said
recently that there could be up
to 100 million infections from
the virus later this year.
That's, of course, after the
country marked 1 million deaths
from this disease.
Where are we in the life of this
pandemic?
In so many places, it feels like
people have moved on.
Is that a function of us
learning to live with covid, or
do you think we are becoming
dangerously complacent?
Dr. Jha: Yes, geoff, I think if
we take a step back and look at
where we are in this pandemic,
obviously there's a lot of
infections out there.
Two years in, I don't think
anybody wants to hear that.
It's frustrating.
But we do have a lot of immunity
that we have built up through
largely through vaccinations and
through boosting.
People are much, much better
protected.
And so as infections are rising,
we are seeing hospitalizations
and deaths much lower than we
did in previous instances where
infections rose.
You know, and I look out to the
future.
We have got to keep up with
this.
I mean, the virus is not done.
We've got to keep on working, on
improving our vaccines, making
sure we have enough treatments.
I think complacency can get us
into a lot of trouble.
But if we stay active, we stay
focused, continue to combat this
virus, I think we can keep
Americans safe.
Geoff: The CDC this week, as you
well know, they recommended a
booster dose of the pfizer
vaccine for children ages 5 to
But hesitancy is pretty high.
And less than one third of
children in that age group have
actually gotten two doses of the
vaccine.
What's the level of concern in
the white house about that?
Dr. Jha: Yeah.
So the evidence, first of all,
on this is really clear.
Kids benefit from these
vaccines.
They really do.
Vaccines make an enormous
difference in keeping kids out
of the hospital, preventing kids
from getting sick.
So that part, I think, is very,
very important and we've got to
get that out.
Obviously, there's been a lot of
misinformation about children
and vaccines, and particularly
children and covid suggesting
that somehow covid is not a big
deal for kids.
We know kids can get sick from
this.
What we have to do is both make
vaccines widely available and
continue the message on the
science and evidence on this
issue.
Geoff: And of course, when that
headline came out, I heard from
parents of children who are
younger than five who said, you
know, what about the first dose
for my kid?
It was a couple of weeks ago, I
guess three weeks ago now, where
a modern announced that it's
seeking emergency use
authorization for a covid-19
vaccine for kids who are six
months to five years old.
Haven't heard much about that
since then.
What's what's the status there?
Dr. Jha: Yeah.
I mean, I have a lot of friends
who have kids under five and
they are frustrated.
And I understand that
frustration.
Look, the bottom line is that
for each age group, what we have
done is fda has carefully
reviewed the data and when it
has met their standards, they've
authorized it.
That is what is going to happen
here.
So the fda scientists are going
through all of that modern
data.
And as soon as it meets their
standards, I am confident
they're going to make a
decision.
And my hope is it will happen
soon.
Geoff: I want to ask you also
about long covid.
There are government estimates
that as many as 23 million
Americans already have long
covid.
Do we have a better sense of
what causes it?
What is best to treat it?
What's the latest?
Dr. Jha: Yeah, this is a really
important issue.
I mean, I think we do not spend
enough time as a country talking
about long covid.
There are a lot of Americans who
continue to suffer after an
infection.
What we know is that if you're
vaccinated and boosted have
breakthrough infection, you're
much less likely to get long
covid.
And if you do get it, you're is
much milder.
That said, it's clearly kind of
a heterogeneous group of
conditions.
It's a variety of different
things that people are suffering
from.
We need a lot more research.
We are launching a series of new
studies to try to understand it
better, as well as trying out
new therapies to try to
understand both how do we
prevent it and how do we treat
it?
Geoff: Looking ahead to the
fall, perhaps the winter, the
emergence of another subvariant,
if we're in a position where we
need to wear masks again
indoors.
Do you think that there is
enough political will for
lawmakers, elected officials, to
make that case and for the
American people to actually
listen?
Dr. Jha: Again, as we just
started with, you know, people
are tired of this pandemic.
We understand that.
The virus, unfortunately, is not
done with its work.
As we look to the fall and
winter, what I paying attention
am to right now is watching the
virus evolve.
We've got to pay very close
attention to what happens if we
do see a new wave of infections.
We want to be ready with a new
generation of vaccines,
treatments.
I have always believed that
masking is an important part of
keeping, you know, keeping
infection numbers low.
And I think we're going to want
to get that message out to
people that in areas with high
infection numbers, masking is
going to be an important tool to
keeping infections low and
getting letting us get through
the fall and winter without
substantial disruption.
Geoff: White house covid
coordinator Dr. Ashish jha,