THE DOCTORS HAVE TO SAY, SORRY,
ITS TOO LATE.
>> COVID CASES ARE ON THE
UPSWING, ESPECIALLY IN STATES
WITH LOW VACCINATION RATES, AND
ALARMING NEW FINDINGS FROM AN
INTERNAL CDC DOCUMENT SAY THAT
THE DELTA VARIANT IS AS
CONTAGIOUS AS THE CHICKEN POX,
AND MAY CAUSE MORE SEVERE
ILLNESS THAN OTHER STRAINS.
ED SHOWS THAT THOSE WHO ARE
FULLY VACCINATED CAN STILL
SPREAD THE VIRUS, BUT VACCINES
ARE STILL EFFECTIVE IN
PREVENTING SEVERE CASES.
ACCORDING TO THE CDC, ITS
CRUCIAL TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT,
QUOTE, THE WAR HAS CHANGED.
EARLIER THIS WEEK, THEY REVERSED
MASK GUIDANCE AND NOW ASK THAT
EVEN THE VACCINATED WEAR MASKS
INDOORS IN PLACES WITH HIGH
TRANSMISSION RATES.
JOINING US NOW, MSNBC MEDICAL
CONTRIBUTOR, DR. VIN GUPTA.
HES ALSO A CRITICAL CARE
PULMONOLOGIST AND FACULTY MEMBER
FOR THE INSTITUTE FOR HEALTH
METRICS AND EVALUATION AT THE
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON.
DR. GUPTA, THANK YOU VERY MUCH
FOR BEING HERE.
JUST FROM EVERYTHING THAT YOUVE
RAID SO FAR, JUST YOUR
INTERPRETATION, YOUR PERSPECTIVE
OF THIS NEW CDC FINDING.
>> GOOD MORNING, JONATHAN,
THANKS FOR HAVING ME.
THERE CERTAINLY IS GREATER
URGENCY TO THE UNVACCINATED.
AND IF 2020, JONATHAN, WAS THE
YEAR IN WHICH GRANDMA AND
GRANDPA WERE MOST LIKELY TO SEE
SOMEONE LIKE ME IN INTENSEIVE
CARE, 2021 IS APPROVING TO BE
THE YEAR, ANY ADULT 18 YEARS OF
AGE UP AND IS VULNERABLE.
SO THAT THREAT PERCEPTION WAS
BROUGHT INTO STARK RELIEF WITH
THESE FINDINGS THIS WEEK FROM
THE CDC.
AND YET ILL SAY, JUST HAVING
BEEN A PART OF THE EDUCATION
EFFORTS AT ON-SITE CLINICS
ACROSS THE COUNTRY, THAT PEOPLE
ARE CONFUSED BY THIS, TO SOME
DEGREE.
AND WE FEED TO STILL PROVIDE
CONTEXT THAT UP TO 25 STATES AT
THE KAISER FAMILY FOUNDATION
SAID ARE FOLLOWING WHATS
HAPPENING WITH VACCINE
BREAKTHROUGH CASES, BOTH
ASYMPTOMATIC AND SYMPTOMATIC,
JONATHAN, THAT IT LOOKS LIKE
ONLY LESS THAN 1% OF THE TOTAL
CASES ARE VACCINE BREAKTHROUGH
CASES.
THAT 55% PLUS OF INDIVIDUALS IN
HOSPITALIZED YOUTH ACROSS THE
COUNTRY ARE UNVACCINATED.
I THINK THAT CONTEXT WILL BE
REALLY VITAL, WHO PEOPLE TURN ON
THE NEWS, THERES A LOT OF
ANXIETY AND CONFUSION.
>> I JUST NEED TO PLAY FOR YOU
YOU -- AND I HESITATE TO DO
THIS, BECAUSE HES SO LOATHSOME,
BUT ITS IMPERATIVE THAT WHAT HE
SAYS BE REBUTTED.
LETS JUST LISTEN TO SENATOR
CRUZ FROM THURSDAY.
>> THE CDCS RULING THIS WEEK IS
NOT ACCOMPANIED BY ANY DATA.
THEY DID NOT ROLL OUT STUDIES,
THEY DID NOT ROLL OUT FACTS,
THEY DID NOT SAY, SUDDENLY,
VACCINES ARENT WORKING.
INSTEAD, THEY JUST SAID, TRUST
US, WE HAVE DOUBLE SUPER SECRET
STUDIES THAT WERE NOT GOING TO
TELL YOU, BASED ON DOUBLE SUPER
SECRET DATA THAT WERE NOT GOING
TO SHOW YOU, BUT TRUST US,
BECAUSE WE BEHAVE LIKE POLITICAL
HACKS AND OBEY US ANYWAY.
>> OF COURSE, HE SAID THAT ON
THURSDAY, WHICH WAS THE DAY
BEFORE THE CDC RELEASED ITS
DATA.
BUT YOUR REACTION TO WHAT HE
SAID?
>> I DONT REALLY LISTEN TO
SENATOR CRUZ FOR MUCH OF IN
ADDITION, ESPECIALLY FOR HEALTH
QUIS.
ADVICE.
BUT IF YOU WANT TO TAKE WHAT HE
SAID AND TRY TO FIND THE SILVER
LINING OF WHAT MIGHT ACTUALLY BE
ACTIONABLE, THERES SOME TRUTH
TO THE NOTION, THERES MANY OF
US IN PUBLIC HEALTH THAT ARE
SCRATCHING OUR HEADS ON TUESDAY
WHEN THE CDC PUT OUT THIS NEW
GUIDANCE.
YET WE WERE LEFT WONDERING, IS
VACCINE BREAKTHROUGH DISEASE, IS
THIS A SERIOUS THING?
HOW FREQUENT IS IT?
HOW WORRIED SHOULD WE BE ABOUT
ITS INCREASED VALIDITY.
WITHOUT THAT CONTEXT AND THAT
DATA, I THINK THAT DID CAUSE
SOME DEGREE OF CONFUSION.
THE WAY SENATOR CRUZ PHRASED IT
IS NOT HELPFUL TO ANYONE.
BUT I WILL SAY, THIS IS THE
PIECE OF CLARITY THAT I
APPRECIATED FROM SENATOR BIDEN
DURING HIS PRESS CONFERENCE,
THAT HE WAS PRETTY DARNED CLEAR
ABOUT WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE.
EITHER HE CLEARLY SAID, LOW
HOSPITALIZATION RATES, THATS
WHY HE SAID, JONATHAN, YOU WENT
UNMASKED IN PLACES LIKE
PHILADELPHIA AND DELAWARE,
WHEREAS OTHERWISE THE CDC DATA
AND THEIR RISK MATRIX WOULD HAVE
ARGUED FOR HIM TO PUT ON A MASK,
HE SAID HE DIDNT, BECAUSE HE
WAS IN PLACES THAT DEPARTMENT
HAVE COVID-RELATED STRESS.
THE FACT THAT THE PRESIDENT
WASNT EVEN TABLE TO ARTICULATE
WHAT HIS OWN CDC PUT OUT, TO ME
THATS THE TENSION HERE, THATS
THE CONFUSION.
BUT IF WE WORK PAST THAT, WORK
PAST THAT, WE HAVE CLARITY ON
WHERE WERE HEADED.
WERE HEADED TOWARDS COVID BEING
ENDIM
ENDEMIC
ENDEMIC.
>> SO DR. GUPTA, THATS VIDEO
WERE GOING TO SHOW AS IM
ASKING YOU THIS QUESTION.
IN CHICAGO ON THURSDAY,
LOLLAPALOOZA, YOU HAD JUST
HUNDREDS, MAYBE THOUSANDS OF
PEOPLE YOU SEE THERE SWRATCELEBR
IN PUBLIC.
TOMORROW IS AUGUST 1st.
AUGUST BEING FAMILY REUNIONS AND
BARBECUES AND PEOPLE GETTING
TOGETHER, WHAT DOES THE CDC DATA
SAY TO YOU, GIVEN THE CDC DATA.
WHAT DO YOU SAY TO FOLKS IN
CHICAGO FOR LOLLAPALOOZA, FOLKS
HEADING TO FAMILY BARBECUES AND
REUNIONS, WHAT SHOULD WE DO NOW
THAT WE KNOW THIS DATA FROM THE
CDC?
>> THIS IS WHAT I WOULD SAY TO
EVERYBODY.
ITS URGENT TO GET VACCINATED, I
DEALLY WITH A TWO-DOSE REGIMEN,
PFIZER OR MODERNA.
WE KNOW THE MOST ABOUT THOSE TWO
REGIMENS VIS-A-VIS THE DELTA
VARIANT.
AND THEYRE EXTRAORDINARILY
EFFECTIVE.
THATS A KEY PART OF THE DATA
SET THAT WAS RELEASED ON
THURSDAY THAT WERE NOT TALKING
ENOUGH ABOUT.
THAT STILL THE VACCINES ARE 90
TO 95% EFFECTIVE AGAINST GOING
TO THE HOSPITAL.
88% EFFECTIVE AGAINST
SYMPTOMATIC ILLNESS.
THE VITAL IMPORTANCE OF GETTING
VACCINATED.
AND IF YOU LIVE IN A PLACE WHERE
YOURE HEARING HOSPITALS ARE
PACKED OR BRIMMING UP.
I WAS JUST DOWN IN CLARK COUNTY,
WHERE THEIR ICUs ARE FILLING UP.
THEIR TEST RATES FOR COVID ARE
FILLING UP, THAT YOU SHOULD ALSO
MASK UP.
AND REGARDLESS IF YOUR MEDICAL
CONDITIONS, REGARDLESS IF YOUVE
BEEN FULLY VACCINATED.
BECAUSE THE CHANCE YOU COULD GET
EXPOSED IN THE COMMUNITY IS
HIGHER.
BUT IF YOURE LIKE PRESIDENT
BIDEN IN PHILADELPHIA WHERE
HOSPITAL RATES ARE LOW, TEST
RATES ARE LOW, VACCINE RATES ARE
HIGH, GET VACCINATED AND LIVE