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The more I watch Dr. Anthony Fauci, the more I appreciate what a diplomatic, thoughtful person he is. We just talked about his interview on CNN where he called it “horrifying” that the CPAC attendees cheered for the US missing vaccination targets. Fauci is warning people about the risk of death from covid, particularly as the more contagious delta variant has become the dominant strain in the US. Unfortunately daily cases in the US are rising more than 66%, even as almost half of the US population is fully vaccinated. As Kaiser wrote about yesterday, the Republicans are killing off their base by spreading misinformation about the vaccinations.
Dr. Fauci spoke with Gayle King on CBS This Morning. He talked about the need to educate people about the vaccines so we can reach the holdouts. He also explained why the CDC and FDA said a booster was not needed at this time, although he gave a lot of credit to Pfizer as well. He just makes me feel more hopeful about where the US is headed, even with the MAGAs kicking and screaming. He’s the perfect complement to the very competent Biden administration. Gayle said that she’s having an issue in her own family with people who refuse to get vaccinated. Here’s more of what they said and you can watch the interview below:
On the need for vaccines
Dr. Fauci: The concern is, first of all, the virus itself can transmit much more readily from person to person. We know that from experience in our country as well as in several other countries so you’re dealing with a real bad actor virus.The issue is, given the number of people in the country who are not vaccinated, that really is the concern because the vaccines that we have available… do very well against the Delta variant, particularly protecting against severe disease leading to hospitalization.
We’re concerned about those regions of the country, those states, those areas, those cities in which the level of vaccination is really quite low, hovering around 30 percent or so. You’ve got to do much better than that.
On convincing vaccine hesitant people to get vaccinated
Dr. Fauci: When we started with the vaccine implementation plan there were large efforts like auditoriums or arenas filled with people getting vaccinated. When you get down to now a core lesser group, you’ve got to go one on one. That’s what the president was talking about… community people to go out there and try and convince people… to go out and get vaccinated. We really need to get more people vaccinated.Gayle King: I don’t know how many times you can say to people ‘listen, it will save your life.’ I have this problem with some members of my own family which I’m now going to ban from Thanksgiving vacation. That’s how strongly I’m taking what you’re saying.
On the confusion between Pfizer, the FDA and CDC over the booster shot
Dr. Fauci: When you have a regulatory agency like FDA or a public health agency like the CDC, whenever they make solid, official recommendations, they will do that based on solid data, data and evidence that they’ve gotten from clinical studies, which they are very actively accumulating right now… What Pfizer did, understandably, they looked at what their data said [and recommended a booster shot]. That’s fine except they’re not the official recommending organization. Although they do good work, they have data that we will go over with them to determine if there’s anything that we need to use.
If anyone can make me feel better about the FDA and CDC going against Pfizer’s recommendations, it’s Dr. Fauci. He’s giving credit to Pfizer and is saying the regulatory agencies will let us know about the booster in due time. Hopefully that will be in the next couple of months.
Meanwhile I wonder who Gayle is talking about! Gayle has a daughter Kirby, 34, and son William Bumpus Jr., 33. Gayle’s daughter is pregnant and married and I’m not sure about her son’s relationship status. They’re probably all vaccinated though because Gayle has been posting photos hanging out with them, so she’s likely talking about extended family. However I have cousins around that age who think they don’t need to get vaccinated. Their parents are Democrats too, thankfully most of my family are. They’re on their own now and I hope they make the right decision sooner rather than later. Banning unvaccinated people from coming over your house and/or from family gatherings is the best approach I think. I’ve also heard of it working to convince people to get the shots.
Here’s that interview:
Good. As it should be.
CDC and FDA DO say that if YOU are vaccinated you are safe to be indoors w/an unvaxxed person, but the unvaxxed NEED to wear masks in this situation, and that won’t happen if you’re eating, talking, and yelling across the table at Old Uncle Grumpy spouting off at the other end of the room. So good on Gayle for protecting her core family (her and her kids, esp. her pregnant daughter).
I’ve also been reading about *another* variant, the Lambada Variant, that is coming up from So. America. There is nowhere enough data yet to determine how strong this is (if it’s like Delta/Delta PLUS variants) or even stronger and more contagious/deadly, esp. if it mutates more as it moves north, or if our vax will protect us from serious illness/death from it.
So keep on masking up in crowds/indoors peeps (even Dr. Fauci is advocating this now)! It IS on ourselves to keep ourselves and our families as safe as we can until we really are looking at this in our rearview mirror!
I need a break from the laptop. At first I thought the Lambada variant was a typo and should be LAMBDA. Following the logic of utilizing the Greek alphabet (Delta variant).
yes, keep masking, keep social distancing and keep sanitizing. I also stay away from large crowds.
I’ve lost all faith in the CDC. I’m grateful to be vaccinated but have seen too many reasons to not go all in with the carefree attitude just yet. I still mask up in public to protect myself and the vulnerable who can’t yet be vaccinated As for the purposely unvaccinated? If you get sick, it’s on you.
@seraphina: It is is lambda variant. The lambada is the forbidden dance.
@paranormalgirl, OH MY GAWD. I am DONE for today.
My extended family that lives in the US is making plans to visit us in Italy. Amongst them are two that aren’t vaccinated and haven’t vaccinated their children. I’ve made it very clear to them that I do not want them in my house or anywhere near it. I do not even know if they can travel out of the US like that, but I’m not taking any risks thank you very much. They can fck off.
I believe the rule for travel is that you have to produce a negative test w/in 48-72 hrs. before travel; also, it depends on the rule of the country you are traveling to. Some countries will not let US travelers in yet. So, yeah, definitely calling the Embassies to find out what the *current* requirements are is a good idea!
You are smart Lauren, and don’t let ANYONE bully you into doing anything that can harm your family. Thing is, you also then have to worry about those family members who ARE meeting with the unvaxxed, and monitor any contact they want to have with your family *after* they see the visitors. So much to worry about!
@ Lauren, good for you! There is absolutely no reason why you should be subjected to the stupidity of your extended family just to keep them comfortable or inconvenience them. If they are too ignorant to be vaccinated, they should accept full responsibility for their actions.
In regards to my family, I do not allow my son and DIL to visit unless ALL of us are masked, even though I don’t know if there have been vaccinated or not, as they refuse to tell me. The visits are also extremely short as well and outside.
I was actually shocked by how many European countries are allowing unvaccinated Americans enter their country. I think Canada is the only country that is handling the coronavirus properly.
https://www.nytimes.com/article/coronavirus-travel-restrictions.html
I watch CBS This Morning and watched Dr. Fauci and he does give me comfort and their current agenda in reaching out to people individually is an exceptional plan. I watched as they were touring Venice, I think, during the broadcast and the streets were filled with tourists and the cruise ships have returned to their docks as well. I know that countries are hurting from the lack of tourism, especially when that is a great percentage of their GDP, but you have to protect the citizens first!!
If the world thinks that we are going to be rid of COVID within the next 18 months, they are kidding themselves.
In regards to this new variant, I haven’t heard about it yet. But it truly makes my blood boil over the utter disregard to not be vaccinated when we have surpassed over 4 millions
deaths worldwide. As for religious reasons, I don’t get that eaither.
@Lauren, I’m really sorry that you have to deal with unvaccinated US relatives wanting to come to visit. I find it disrespectful of them to visit a country that suffered so much loss in the past year from Covid. I hope they reconsider getting vaccinated and/or just stay home!
You realize that when people won’t mix with unvaccinated family/friends, they’re saying they think the vaccines don’t work? We never refuse to mix with people who haven’t had the flu shot, or pertussis or varicella shots etc.
You can f’ck right off Carabella. -edit- this is a troll and they surely aren’t vaccinated. I shouldn’t have responded. They are banned. When you see trolls please comment “troll” and we will zap them.
I love the smell of f’ck offs in the morning.
So it took me a few reads to completely understand WTH was going on. The comment made no sense. Alas, I wish getting rid of idiot people could be as easy as saying one word and they would be zapped to an island filled with other idiots where the winter is harsh and the summers are humid and hot.
@ Mabs A’Mabbin, yes, as do I! It is the perfect side to my coffee today!!
Will do.
That’s a pretty thoughtless statement, Carabella. I feel pretty confident that I’m protected due to my vaccinations (though I know two nurses who got a breakthrough Delta variant after being fully vaccinated–luckily the vaccine made the infections mild).
But I have a 3yo and a dear cousin who has a severe genetic disease that makes him unable to get many vaccines. I’m very aware that if I spend time with unvaccinated people, my 3yo can get sick and can be a spreader even if he isn’t terribly sick himself. It’s not always about a purely selfish motive.
Also, I don’t actually socialize with anyone who doesn’t vaccinate their kids and have ended friendships over that issue. And chose a private daycare that doesn’t permit vaccine waivers at all. I do believe that sometimes social pressure can be important. Your comment is quite short-sighted.
As confident as I am about vaccines….I still have concerns about the unvaccinated.
Here in Canada, unvaccinated populations are responsible for 90% of hospitalization
As a teacher ( who mixes with both vaccine deniers, vaccinated ….) I have been vaccinated since a child, didn’t realize they “ sometimes run out or aren’t 100%…
I was educated when my entire classroom became a “ Cluster Pertussis Outbreak”. Prior to the Pandemic due to an unvaccinated child in our class. ( did I mention it was the week before Christmas) the lady normal one in two years. I had to be quarantined
And you realize you can still get sick with a vaccine, don’t you? Vaccines aren’t a miracle cure-all. Not to mention if you have younger children who cannot be vaccinated yet. Generally if you are sick with the flu or chickenpox, etc. you are NOT hanging around other people in a social setting, so your point is moot.
Right, just like at work if you were sick with flu or cold we were told to stay home. God forbid anyone else get sick too.
My ENTIRE family is vaccinated and I have cousins going abroad to Europe this summer. WITH LITTLE ones UNDER 5 – unvaccinated. All I could think is: how stupid are you guys?
Carabella, neither you or your children would be welcome at my house.
I know she’s a troll, but I will say that when both my boys were born, we did ask that people who were going to interact with them get updated Tdap vaccines, their flu vaccines, and fellow children at daycare and at school are required to have the varicella vaccine, among other things.
So yes, I do try to avoid mixing with people who are not fully vaccinated (and who do not have a medical reason etc etc.)
@ Becks1, that’s excellent!! Also, everyone must remember that anyone that suffers from cold sores should NEVER allow that person to kiss their newborn. It causes death, and it is avoidable. Sores or not, be safe!!
You realize if they have children under 12 they cannot be vaccinated so why expose them to risk?
PAH-LEAZE with your NONSENSE! This is not the forum for your dangerous misinformation and foreign propaganda.
No, it means that as a vaccinated person I understand that I can still transmit the virus. There are immune-compromised people who cannot take the vaccine in my life and all around us.
Yep, in my family, my sister and 15 yo niece are the only ones not vaccinated. They’re scared of the vaccine for some reason, though literally everyone else in my immediate family, including my dad who was worried about it at first are vaccinated. They’ve been banned from visiting my grandma and I’ve talked about banning them from family events (dad’s not quite on board yet). It’s crazy bc my niece lost her dad and grandma to the virus and they still refuse.
I’m very lucky. My immediate and extended family have all been vaccinated. The potential hold outs have siblings who are doctors or nurses, so I think that helped a lot.
She lost her father and grandmother to covid and still won’t get vaccinated? I’m at a loss for words.
My husband asked about adding someone to our DnD group. First thing I asked was about his vaccination status. He’s not vaccinated so it was an easy decision to say no.
Right, who needs chaotic evil in the company? Lol
@ AUD, I first thought maybe DnD stood for Do Not Dine group, but then realized you were more likely to be referring to the game :). Though maybe I’ll create my own Do Not Dine list and put unvaccinated people on it that aren’t welcome in my house for dinner.
Non vaccinated people are banned from visiting me. If you’re not vaccinated I do not wish to be around you. Fortunately most of the people I associate with are vaccinated. Also, I still wear a mask whenever I go out in public. I don’t have faith that the people around me are vaccinated.
Nor do I trust people who aren’t wearing masks to be vaccinated. I am vaccinated and I wear my mask. I am in the minority where I live.
Gail shouldn’t have put her family business out there like this. Quite a few families, if not the vast majority, are dealing with the vaccinated/not vaccinated get together struggle. If she actually cared about these family members she’d keep this fight in-house. I think she wasn’t super fond of these family members to begin with and is happy to bar them from her party for any reason, but ESPECIALLY for a reason she can put on blast and come out as the hero on….
I think she made the right call publicizing what she is doing in regards to her own family with vaccinations. She never mentioned names. You have no idea what the relationship is like and you’re putting your own bias out there based on nothing. So many of us have similar situations going on with close loved ones. Tough love is sometimes the answer.
As much as the anti-vaxxers are putting out fake info, those of us who vaccinate have the right to say these are the consequences in any way shape or manner so they understand our boundaries and that we aren’t changing them. It’s their choice.
I agree sometimes it’s best to just rip the bandage off. I was raked through the coals last year for not hosting the holidays and refusing to all get together BUT I am so glad I did that. And It was the most relaxing Thanksgiving I have had.
Given the current environment, maybe a public platform about the consequences of our choices will encourage those who have OPTED not to get vaccinated to do the right thing. And yes, it’s the right thing.
I respectfully disagree, @Va Va Kaboom. Since no vaccine is 100% effective, she’s right to protect herself and others in her family from people who are vastly more likely to be infected by Covid, and I think her being public about this might empower others to take a stand with their own non-vaxxed family members.
I disagree, she’s trying to set an example, protect herself and her loved ones, and hopefully push a few unvaccinnated people to just stop the nonsense and get it done.
We have one employee at my work who has not gotten it, and my boss is not pleased. He’s going to refuse to allow any clients in on the days that guy is there, and he will not be able to go out to any clients’ property until he’s vaccinated.
I find this an odd thing to say. Why wouldn’t you believe her? Vaccinations are literally a choice between life and death, pretty much. If we care about our family, wouldn’t we want to keep them safe? Isn’t that enough of a reason? It’s not necessary to imagine ulterior motives to ban people from gatherings. You don’t have to vaccinate, but others also have the choice to leave you out. I mean, it’s pretty basic. This might be a terrible analogy, but if you were drunk, I’d try to stop you driving in the interests of your own safety, and everyone else on the road. Maybe you’d get to where you were going, maybe you wouldn’t, but I’m damn sure I wouldn’t be letting anyone I cared about in the car with you.
All the adults in my family are vaccinated, as well as my 13 year old niece. Its just the younger kids and we are all anxiously waiting for the vaccine to be approved for them.
We got together for Easter but stayed outside for the most part, i’m not sure about Thanksgiving and Christmas – the kids are all in different schools and live in different parts of the state, so I’m going to see where things stand in a few months ,but we might do another quiet Thanksgiving this year.
My MIL says she “can’t” get vaccinated due to a medical issue from a few years ago but we’re 99% sure she hasn’t even asked her doctor and just isn’t getting it. So we’re going to have to make a decision about seeing her over the next few months, I am not comfortable with it.
Friends of mine decided to have a 4th of July party and she only invited vaccinated friends (her husband has cancer), it was a relief to us, we had a great time. I was also happy when my Trumpster loving cousins decided not to have a graduation party for their daughter this year, I know most of them are not vaccinated and my brother and I have no problem declining the invitation, but my mother feels that she needs to attend every family event and I doubt she would listen to me saying she shouldn’t attend.
The only member of my immediate family NOT vaccinated is my brother who really wants to be but has some serious health issues and is wary of doing so for the time being. He has said as soon as he gets the ok from his various docs he’s on it. In the meantime he wears a mask around all of us, and stays a reasonable distance away but it’s hard on him and us because we are a family of huggers, and not being able to hug him is awful.
I understand there are folks who, for one reason or another, can’t be vaccinated and I definitely have compassion for them. However if you willfully refuse a vaccination, then you deserve exactly whatever karma decides to dish out to you and you are not welcome in my home. Full stop.
Just a word of support and encouragement; my daughter also has multiple medical issues and she was cleared by all the docs to go ahead with the Moderna which was the type offered here. She had no reaction or untoward effects. ( She has internal med, rheumatologist, allergist and pulmonary med and auto immune following her).
While I was visiting my son, his wife and my grandson in California last month, we made a trip to Las Vegas to visit her family (sister, husband, niece and 5 year old grandniece). I was floored when the sister and her husband told me neither of them was vaccinated nor intended to get the vaccine because they didn’t trust it. The rest of us (me, my son and d-i-l, grandson, and her niece) have all had both our shots, but the kids haven’t. It’s one thing to be stupid about the vaccine if there are no kids to worry about; if there are kids involved, it’s something else altogether. My grandson is getting his first shot in two weeks when he turns 12.
Im a nurse who is vaccinated and 100% behind vaccines. I’m beyond sick of death. That being said my son under 12. I want more data on myocarditis and young/boys men. I will have a long talk with his doctor when the vaccine approved for under 12s. I live in the biggest hot spot in the country right now and if all the adults actually got vaccinated the under 12s would be a lot safer. That won’t happen. I’m still masking and will continue to. Don’t all jump on me about heart issues and Boys making me uncomfortable.
Mickie, I think that if you have questions that need answered, that’s what you should do. It’s always best to be informed. I think waiting for the data for under 12s is smart for any parent. I made sure that I was informed before getting the vaccine so that I was confident in my decision. I don’t see how anyone can challenge you on that.
I’m sorry that as a nurse you’ve had to contend with the anti-vaxxers and the continued hospitalizations and death. I hope that you and other medical professionals have access to resources to deal with the burn out and PTSS. Thank you for hanging in there–it can’t be easy.
Almost all of my extended family refuses to get vaccinated. They have uninvited themselves from my life. I have little children who cannot yet be vaccinated. I will not risk their health – long term issues as a result of this virus are very very real – because they refuse to believe in science because of a past orange President. Good riddance.