The UK has imposed a strict lockdown due to new strains of coronavirus. Join Yahoo Finance Live to discuss Emergency Medicine Physician Dr. Hiral Tipirne.
Video transcript
– We have Dr. Hiral Tipirney. She is an Emergency Medicine Physician in Arizona, where she was also a former candidate for Congress. Dr. Tipirenny, it’s great to talk to you this morning. I would like to ask about the silver lining of the vaccine in the context of what Anjali was talking about. And I want to ask clearly. I mean whether there is a risk of new strains when we are watching in the UK, have we really had any impact on vaccine development or effectiveness as we keep seeing the rollout of modern and Pfizer vaccines?
Hiral Tipireni: Thanks for keeping me today. And as he said, I mean, there are always multiple stressors that can potentially change. We know the science behind it. And what’s really important is letting the data guide us to make sure we’re following the data. At this point, we have no reason to think that this vaccine has all changed based on what is in our effectiveness. But again, to monitor that data, to see numbers coming out of other places, and to see what science tells us.
If there are any changes that need to be made, we need to be careful. But for now, I think we’re in good hands with this current set of vaccines we have, and the rollout has been very strong and effective so far. And as we move forward, science and data should lead us.
Cena Smith: Hey Doctor, that’s Cena here. So it seems on the vaccine front, we’ll probably be fine. But I think the point going forward here is what Anjali just said and that is not to be found in those tests. I’m curious how this could potentially complicate our efforts to reduce the spread of the virus.
Hiral Tipireni: Yeah, absolutely. I mean – and as you all know, we don’t have a comprehensive national testing strategy. So we have already struggled with that compared to many other countries in the world. So I think it’s really a real concern to make sure we have an accurate testing strategy, that we have a real one – it’s a real test that’s development material and beyond. And that’s why, again, and we know this, right.
We know the CDC is watching this, we know the NIH is aware. This is another reason why we should still be part of the World Health Organization, because these epidemics have kept us so safe in the past, because we were able to stop them before they hit our shores.
In this situation, we have to be very vigilant and we have to make sure we are getting the data, we know what science tells us, and we stay active. And that means all of our agencies and health organizations should be in harmony and really should be – the radar should focus very sharply on this. Because right now, we’re at a major turning point with the vaccine here. And certainly not to lose any of the progress we are making.
But that means that all of us, including those who have not been vaccinated, as well as those futures, we still have to maintain a very high vigilance. That means we still wear masks, still maintain social distance, nothing should change in that area unless a large number of our population is truly vaccinated and truly protected.
– And that brings up a good point because we need to complete that point in a timely manner. We are still many months away from widespread inoculation of the population. But we’re seeing about a quarter of a million cases, new cases, packed every day. When it comes to ICU beds many areas hit the capacity of the hospital. What are you seeing on the ground in Arizona? Based on the numbers you are seeing, are you optimistic that despite the increasing search we can make it safely where there is widespread vaccination?
Hiral Tipireni: Yeah, I mean, look here in Arizona. Things are worrying, right. We know that the capacity of our ICU bed is quite sharp, we know that the numbers, the number of cases is increasing upwards, the positive percentage of our test is floating about 20%, sometimes it is more. So all of that is clearly a very worrying indicator of this current boom. And as you all know, we recently had a Thanksgiving holiday, we have a Christmas holiday, and the New Year is coming, and there are still a lot of people who don’t follow public health guidelines.
Our governors have been very lax in implementing anything. We don’t have a mask mandate, we still have indoor dining, all of these things are worrisome. And so I would really warn everyone there. This vaccine is surprisingly good news, but the realization is that one shot does not give you immunity, and most of our population needs to be defended and immunized and indeed it is really immune to infection, and it will take many, many months.
So until then, we all have to continue to follow the same public health guidelines, stay home if you are sick, wash your hands, wear a mask when you are around others who are not in your family, limit the size of gatherings . . I will avoid eating indoors, and try to stay home as much as possible because we are not out of this crisis. We are – it’s a light at the end of the tunnel, but we have a lot of work to do to get there.
Cena Smith: And talking about doing a lot of work to get there Doctor, the list of vaccinations that we got out over the weekend, the CDC panel signs on another group of four people, aged 75 or older, front line workers. I’m just as excited about what you think about that list and who you think we should vaccinate first.
Hiral Tipireni: Yes. Look, I mean obviously with our first batch. I think it was absolutely right. Our second type of category, I think we are talking about the people most at risk. You know, we have front line essential workers there, even if there are first responders, grocery clerks, devotees who can’t work from home. They are constantly exposed to that risk. And I think it’s very important that those people be vaccinated and I think that’s the right category that is being preferred.
I think we have to make sure that we follow the science in allocating this vaccine, that it should not be based on position, privilege, property or anything like that. It should be based on the highest risk and ensure that we are inoculating the population that is most likely to be exposed to the virus or have very fatal or dangerous complications of the virus.
