WEBVTT - COVID Hasn't Gone Away 0:00:11.800 --> 0:00:14.520 Good morning, Peepsen. Welcome to will gae F Daily with 0:00:14.680 --> 0:00:18.920 Meet your Girl Danielle Moody, recording from the Home Bunker. Folks, 0:00:19.560 --> 0:00:23.520 Today's conversation with our good, good friend, doctor Jonathan Mexel 0:00:23.720 --> 0:00:28.000 is one that frankly, we need to be having that 0:00:28.120 --> 0:00:32.480 the mainstream news is not having. And once again, I know, 0:00:33.120 --> 0:00:36.360 Summer you may roll your eyes and say, Danielle, my god, 0:00:36.360 --> 0:00:39.199 when can we stop talking about COVID when COVID is 0:00:39.240 --> 0:00:43.960 gone and which it is not. And today Jonathan and 0:00:44.000 --> 0:00:48.879 I get into a really real honest conversation about sounding 0:00:48.920 --> 0:00:53.120 the alarm with regard to where we are headed this winter. 0:00:54.280 --> 0:00:57.760 You know, we just all came off of the holiday, 0:00:58.000 --> 0:01:02.200 many of us mixing, mingling, holiday day parties, family gatherings, 0:01:02.640 --> 0:01:05.000 you know, all of these things. And the fact is 0:01:05.160 --> 0:01:07.480 that I have received and you will hear this in 0:01:07.520 --> 0:01:12.560 the interview coming up next, multiple texts from friends in 0:01:12.600 --> 0:01:16.840 different areas of the country who now have COVID. Some 0:01:16.920 --> 0:01:20.440 of them it is mild, for others not so much. 0:01:20.880 --> 0:01:24.720 Other people within my own family have been battling against 0:01:24.760 --> 0:01:28.640 a really bad cold that kind of mirrors RSV but 0:01:28.800 --> 0:01:32.479 hasn't been diagnosed as such. And during all of this, 0:01:32.800 --> 0:01:37.000 I have been taking zinc multiple times a day. I've 0:01:37.040 --> 0:01:40.480 been taking theraflu pills because while I was home for 0:01:40.520 --> 0:01:43.520 the holidays, both my mother and my sister got sick, 0:01:44.400 --> 0:01:49.840 and you know, trying to remember that we do, in 0:01:49.880 --> 0:01:52.920 fact have all of the tools to keep ourselves well, 0:01:53.280 --> 0:01:56.440 one of them being wearing a fucking mask, which like 0:01:56.640 --> 0:02:01.120 many Americans, I have lapsed on only really wearing it 0:02:01.200 --> 0:02:04.120 when I'm on public transportation, but not when I'm going 0:02:04.160 --> 0:02:08.680 into indoor spaces and not taking the same precautions that 0:02:08.760 --> 0:02:11.840 I was. And so for me, the fact that several 0:02:11.880 --> 0:02:15.280 people around me have gotten ill have prompted me to 0:02:15.720 --> 0:02:18.399 go and get my COVID booster, to go and get 0:02:18.400 --> 0:02:20.960 my flu shot, all of which I did at the 0:02:21.080 --> 0:02:26.520 end of last week. So take this message with you 0:02:26.919 --> 0:02:29.720 to your friends, take it to heart, take it to 0:02:29.760 --> 0:02:32.799 your family. But the reality is that we are headed 0:02:32.880 --> 0:02:37.800 into what Jonathan has said, and what I believe as well, 0:02:38.320 --> 0:02:44.280 is going to be a really rough health season in 0:02:44.280 --> 0:02:48.400 this first quarter of the new year. Why is that, Well, 0:02:49.040 --> 0:02:56.160 we will go into specifics, but basically, China has relinquished 0:02:56.200 --> 0:03:01.080 their zero COVID policy after mass protests, and you know, 0:03:01.360 --> 0:03:04.480 folks will say, well, now you see what's happened. Well, 0:03:04.960 --> 0:03:09.720 their zero COVID policy was pretty much not putting into 0:03:09.880 --> 0:03:14.880 consideration the needs, the emotional concern and how it was 0:03:14.960 --> 0:03:20.120 wearing on the citizens of that country. Because of that, however, 0:03:21.520 --> 0:03:24.760 you now have a billion people plus that are going 0:03:24.800 --> 0:03:28.320 to be in circulation with one another that haven't been 0:03:28.360 --> 0:03:31.200 for the last three years. And we know that COVID 0:03:31.400 --> 0:03:35.280 readily mutates when it has guess what, more host bodies 0:03:35.640 --> 0:03:38.800 in order to mutate with. So now we've just added 0:03:38.840 --> 0:03:42.760 a billion people back into circulation in a really huge way, 0:03:42.840 --> 0:03:46.360 meaning travel bands have been lifted, you know, people being 0:03:46.360 --> 0:03:48.800 able to go out and dine in all of those things. 0:03:48.800 --> 0:03:52.600 And we know again the world is not flat, you know, 0:03:52.760 --> 0:03:57.000 outside of what some QAnon idiots may believe. And we 0:03:57.040 --> 0:04:00.800 are more interconnected, more globally related than we have ever 0:04:00.840 --> 0:04:06.640 been before. So what do I mean by all of that? 0:04:07.200 --> 0:04:13.120 Brace yourselves. Things are going to get real different, real soon. 0:04:13.200 --> 0:04:16.800 I'm not gonna say real bad, I'm gonna say real different. So, 0:04:17.200 --> 0:04:20.640 if you, like me, ran out of mass over the 0:04:20.680 --> 0:04:24.960 holiday season, I suggest that you get on Amazon, get 0:04:25.000 --> 0:04:28.240 on wherever. If you buy them locally and stock up 0:04:28.279 --> 0:04:31.480 on the good medical mass. I suggest that you stock 0:04:31.560 --> 0:04:35.520 up on the hand sanitizers, that maybe the next couple 0:04:35.520 --> 0:04:37.520 of trips that you make to the grocery store and 0:04:37.520 --> 0:04:40.120 to the CVS, that you go ahead and you buy 0:04:40.160 --> 0:04:43.520 those home rapid tests that you have, you know, a 0:04:43.600 --> 0:04:47.880 couple on supply for yourselves and for your family, because 0:04:47.960 --> 0:04:51.440 on top of COVID, we have RSV, we have the flu. 0:04:51.680 --> 0:04:56.440 And again, folks, the boosters, the vaccines, they are not 0:04:56.640 --> 0:04:59.760 one hundred percent, but what they are helping us to 0:04:59.800 --> 0:05:04.000 do is keep people out of intensive care units, keep 0:05:04.040 --> 0:05:08.120 people off of ventilators, keep people as well as possible 0:05:08.279 --> 0:05:11.520 to be able to ride out sickness at home. So 0:05:11.560 --> 0:05:15.600 if you have not gotten your shots, please please please 0:05:16.080 --> 0:05:19.600 take this episode as the alarm that you need to 0:05:19.640 --> 0:05:22.479 go off. At the beginning of this year, as we are, 0:05:22.839 --> 0:05:26.119 you know, people are taking up resolutions, and as I said, 0:05:26.839 --> 0:05:30.080 I'm not really into the resolutions, I'm into intention setting. 0:05:30.800 --> 0:05:33.160 Wellness is at the top of my list in so 0:05:33.200 --> 0:05:37.239 many different ways, and so put your wellness, your health 0:05:37.400 --> 0:05:40.480 on the top of your list because we are going 0:05:40.520 --> 0:05:43.000 to need it as we go into the first quarter 0:05:43.080 --> 0:05:47.120 of this new year. Coming up next my first conversation 0:05:47.360 --> 0:05:55.640 with our dear dear friend, doctor Jonathan Metzo. Well Jonathan, 0:05:55.960 --> 0:06:00.640 Happy New Year. It is officially twenty twenty three. We 0:06:00.720 --> 0:06:05.240 have changed the calendar, and you know, while it is 0:06:05.680 --> 0:06:10.640 a signifier for some of of a fresh start, we 0:06:10.720 --> 0:06:14.600 know that I believe that the beginning of the year 0:06:14.880 --> 0:06:18.360 is very much a review of where we came from 0:06:18.400 --> 0:06:20.800 and where we think that we are going to be headed. 0:06:21.960 --> 0:06:26.159 So I want to start off today with you, Jonathan, 0:06:26.279 --> 0:06:32.880 with saying a couple of things. One, folks that I 0:06:32.960 --> 0:06:37.760 know we're hit with significant illness at the end of 0:06:37.920 --> 0:06:42.440 at the end of the year, my mother, my sister, 0:06:44.040 --> 0:06:48.400 some semblance of they didn't have the flu, wasn't COVID 0:06:49.839 --> 0:06:55.120 potentially RSV, maybe just a really bad cold. Folks that 0:06:55.200 --> 0:07:01.320 I know have COVID have gotten it fairly bad. And 0:07:02.600 --> 0:07:08.000 while all of this is happening because we have largely 0:07:08.080 --> 0:07:11.640 let go of masks, we have largely decided that COVID 0:07:11.720 --> 0:07:15.520 is no longer a thing. We're also watching places like 0:07:15.680 --> 0:07:20.280 China which have now lifted their COVID restrictions in a 0:07:20.280 --> 0:07:22.880 lot of ways. And now the United States is putting 0:07:22.920 --> 0:07:28.760 on and other countries putting on restrictions or guidelines about 0:07:28.840 --> 0:07:32.520 how folks coming from China need to enter into the country. 0:07:32.600 --> 0:07:36.680 So I just you know, as we're moving and we are, 0:07:36.720 --> 0:07:41.680 you know, in the beginning basically of winter, what are 0:07:41.680 --> 0:07:45.360 your thoughts on how we ended the year with talking 0:07:45.400 --> 0:07:52.320 about public health, recognizing that hospitalizations for young people, old 0:07:52.440 --> 0:07:57.240 people are going up because of this triple pandemic that 0:07:57.320 --> 0:08:02.640 we are in COVID, RSV, and flu, and how we 0:08:02.720 --> 0:08:05.320 need to be talking about public health and what we 0:08:05.400 --> 0:08:10.120 need to still be paying attention to in this new year. Well, 0:08:10.120 --> 0:08:14.680 happy new year everybody. You know, I have to say 0:08:14.720 --> 0:08:16.880 I'm about to say something I haven't said on this 0:08:16.920 --> 0:08:20.520 show in a while, but COVID's going to be a 0:08:20.560 --> 0:08:23.240 big deal. It's going to actually be a big deal 0:08:23.360 --> 0:08:26.000 coming up for us. And I know everybody's like, we've 0:08:26.040 --> 0:08:29.560 moved on, we're not paying attention all that kind of stuff. 0:08:30.920 --> 0:08:35.280 But you know, just think about think about cave people 0:08:36.000 --> 0:08:38.360 out in the out in the you know, in their 0:08:38.440 --> 0:08:43.040 day and they're like, we're done with snephylopteris. You know, 0:08:43.120 --> 0:08:45.240 we're sick of living in caves. We want to go 0:08:45.280 --> 0:08:50.599 outside to help with this new this new dinosaur, Torontosaurus 0:08:50.640 --> 0:08:53.480 Rex we're just going to go out, and then they 0:08:53.480 --> 0:08:56.560 got eaten by the t rex. And in a way, 0:08:56.600 --> 0:09:00.320 what we're seeing is a really terrifying I think, even 0:09:00.320 --> 0:09:04.240 though nobody's willing to admit it, new combination of virus. 0:09:04.360 --> 0:09:08.200 I mean, this new, this new covid is immune escaping 0:09:08.240 --> 0:09:10.600 in a way that we haven't seen before. And at 0:09:10.600 --> 0:09:15.640 the same time, we've got like people flying u from China, 0:09:16.240 --> 0:09:19.720 you know who are It's it's just it's it's really 0:09:19.760 --> 0:09:23.120 just a disaster that's happening, and it's going to get worse. 0:09:23.160 --> 0:09:25.720 And so I don't want to be like Debbie Downer again. 0:09:27.040 --> 0:09:32.600 I love puppies, I love um other galo PNEs all 0:09:32.600 --> 0:09:36.120 that shit. Um, but I would say that we're in 0:09:36.240 --> 0:09:39.320 for some COVID stuff coming up. And the other thing 0:09:39.360 --> 0:09:42.640 I worry about, again not to be a total downer, 0:09:43.160 --> 0:09:48.000 is we're getting caught with our proverbial pants and because 0:09:48.040 --> 0:09:50.320 and the reason I'm saying that is because at least 0:09:50.360 --> 0:09:52.680 the last time we had a wave like the wave 0:09:52.679 --> 0:09:55.760 we're about to have right now, we had been preparing 0:09:55.800 --> 0:09:58.280 for it. You know, we had rapid tests build up 0:09:59.320 --> 0:10:01.520 in our stock pile, and we've been working on a 0:10:01.520 --> 0:10:04.640 new vaccine, and we've been funding prevention and we had testing, 0:10:05.280 --> 0:10:08.319 and I understand, like you know, people are saying that 0:10:08.320 --> 0:10:10.640 that's not a good way to address a pandemic, that 0:10:10.679 --> 0:10:12.400 we should just ignore it. And I'll go on. But 0:10:12.760 --> 0:10:15.199 as we've said a million times on the show, the 0:10:15.320 --> 0:10:18.079 virus sets the narrative. We don't set the narrative. And 0:10:18.320 --> 0:10:20.520 I think the virus, unfortunately, is about to set the 0:10:20.559 --> 0:10:23.600 narrative in a way that we've not been preparing for. 0:10:23.720 --> 0:10:26.840 And so it's a it's an interesting time. You know. 0:10:26.880 --> 0:10:29.560 Hopefully Kevin McCarthy can do something to stop all this. 0:10:31.559 --> 0:10:35.920 But that was funny, But I would just say, you know, 0:10:36.080 --> 0:10:40.200 it's just our our divisions are great, our preparedness is 0:10:40.720 --> 0:10:45.520 not great, and the virus is preparing another attack right now, 0:10:45.559 --> 0:10:48.679 and so I just I'm concerned, you know, And I 0:10:48.800 --> 0:10:52.880 want to say this to Jonathan Um. I often thank you, 0:10:53.160 --> 0:10:57.640 right UM for you know, just continuing to join each 0:10:57.640 --> 0:11:00.400 and every week over these last couple of years. And 0:11:01.320 --> 0:11:04.520 over the holiday you might have seen it, maybe you didn't, 0:11:04.600 --> 0:11:07.760 but there was a tweet that went out, uh, and 0:11:07.800 --> 0:11:11.760 then a couple of like uh reply tweets thanking you 0:11:12.840 --> 0:11:16.199 and thanking us for continuing to have a conversation about 0:11:16.240 --> 0:11:21.240 COVID when it seems that everywhere else UM has has stopped, 0:11:21.679 --> 0:11:26.160 and that continuing that the only place UM, that that 0:11:26.240 --> 0:11:30.800 folks are receiving any information about what to expect, how 0:11:30.800 --> 0:11:34.319 to prepare UM is on this show. Oh my god, 0:11:34.960 --> 0:11:38.080 that's great. Yeah, And so I genuinely want to say, 0:11:38.240 --> 0:11:41.600 you know, folks can sometimes feel like we're beating a 0:11:41.679 --> 0:11:44.840 dead horse, like you know, can't you just let GOVID already? 0:11:44.920 --> 0:11:48.480 But the fact of the matter is UM is no UM. 0:11:51.720 --> 0:11:54.120 And and and so what happened and folks, and I'll 0:11:54.160 --> 0:11:59.760 and I'll share this is I got UM two text messages, oh, 0:12:00.360 --> 0:12:03.800 during the holiday week between Christmas and New Year's from 0:12:04.040 --> 0:12:07.720 friends in different regions of the country who came down 0:12:07.760 --> 0:12:12.360 with COVID. One was, you know, super mild, you know, 0:12:12.679 --> 0:12:16.000 just like some sinus issues, fuzzy. The other one is 0:12:16.080 --> 0:12:19.760 over a hundred degree fever, chills, body aches, as if 0:12:19.760 --> 0:12:23.560 they had never received the vaccine to begin with. And 0:12:23.720 --> 0:12:26.240 I got to tell you that it was a reminder 0:12:26.280 --> 0:12:29.040 to me, and thank god I did it. I went out, 0:12:29.160 --> 0:12:32.000 I got my booster and I got my flu shot. Yeah, 0:12:33.160 --> 0:12:38.480 because I had become fairly lapsed in. You know, even 0:12:38.520 --> 0:12:41.600 though we're doing this, having this conversation, I'm being transparent 0:12:42.200 --> 0:12:45.400 that I had become fairly lapsed in how I was 0:12:45.640 --> 0:12:48.200 moving and taking care of my own health and the 0:12:48.200 --> 0:12:50.240 health of people around me. And then when I got 0:12:50.280 --> 0:12:54.400 those two separate messages in the same week, I said, boom, 0:12:54.520 --> 0:12:57.080 I'm going to CVS. And I did, and I got 0:12:57.160 --> 0:13:00.360 the shots and I walked out no side I mean, 0:13:00.440 --> 0:13:02.199 I didn't have any side effects, as not to say 0:13:02.240 --> 0:13:05.120 that other people won't. But the reality is is that 0:13:05.960 --> 0:13:10.120 let us be your clarion call. Let us be you know, 0:13:10.480 --> 0:13:12.920 the canary in the coal mine that is saying to 0:13:12.960 --> 0:13:16.640 you that if you have yet to go get you're 0:13:16.640 --> 0:13:20.640 a booster, your you know, your flu shot. This is 0:13:20.720 --> 0:13:26.079 not the time to wait. I mean I I will 0:13:26.080 --> 0:13:29.600 say a couple of things. I I've gotten two boosters, 0:13:29.600 --> 0:13:33.040 and the second one, my second booster, I got this morning. 0:13:33.640 --> 0:13:37.440 So I'm in the same boat, and we're busy and 0:13:37.520 --> 0:13:40.200 other things are happening. But I would just say, now 0:13:40.320 --> 0:13:43.400 is the time to be careful. Now that the caveat here, 0:13:43.440 --> 0:13:48.880 of course is uh, you know, we should have been 0:13:49.000 --> 0:13:52.079 updating this booster, you know, like we should we should 0:13:52.240 --> 0:13:56.800 we We've we've defunded the science, We've defunded the preparedness 0:13:56.920 --> 0:14:00.320 things like the medications. You know, we we we did great, honestly, 0:14:00.360 --> 0:14:04.760 relatively speaking, science wise, compared to how it could have been. 0:14:04.840 --> 0:14:07.960 But we've just the loss and faith of public health 0:14:07.960 --> 0:14:10.959 has led to a defunding of science. And so the 0:14:11.000 --> 0:14:13.240 tools that we have at our disposal right now are 0:14:13.320 --> 0:14:15.440 not as good as the tools we had a year ago. 0:14:15.520 --> 0:14:20.040 And I just I mean, the Republicans are controlling Congress now, 0:14:20.040 --> 0:14:24.320 and that Congress controls the budget, which controls funding for science, 0:14:24.760 --> 0:14:28.479 and they're gonna defund all that stuff, and private foundations 0:14:28.520 --> 0:14:30.400 just cannot make up for that kind of funding. And 0:14:30.440 --> 0:14:34.200 so I don't know, it's it's it's an interesting time. 0:14:34.240 --> 0:14:38.280 It's it's an intense time. I mean, certainly everybody seems 0:14:38.280 --> 0:14:41.000 to have agreed to live with the virus, but I 0:14:41.600 --> 0:14:44.120 think the still the same old ways of protecting yourself. 0:14:44.160 --> 0:14:45.840 If you're in a crowded place, like I'm going to 0:14:45.920 --> 0:14:48.320 be on a plane on Friday, you can bet your 0:14:48.360 --> 0:14:50.880 petuity I'm going to be having wearing my N ninety 0:14:50.880 --> 0:14:52.800 five masks, even if I'm the only person on the 0:14:52.800 --> 0:14:56.720 plane wearing it. So at times when you feel crowded 0:14:56.720 --> 0:15:00.840 on safe bad airflow, you know, do what you can 0:15:00.920 --> 0:15:04.080 to protect yourself. But again, I think these next two 0:15:04.080 --> 0:15:06.840 months are going to be very important, not just for 0:15:06.880 --> 0:15:09.480 the urgent time of these two months, but also for 0:15:10.120 --> 0:15:12.880 the long COVID that's going to come out out of 0:15:13.000 --> 0:15:18.200 the infections that are going to happen. Now at the 0:15:18.360 --> 0:15:21.600 end of the year. In New York, where we both are, 0:15:22.800 --> 0:15:26.560 did not issue a mandate, but a more so of 0:15:26.560 --> 0:15:32.320 a directive that stated that you know, let's begin to 0:15:32.400 --> 0:15:37.680 mask indoors again, that it is a good idea because 0:15:37.760 --> 0:15:40.680 you have this triple pandemic that is happening, and why 0:15:40.680 --> 0:15:43.200 are people even if it is just a quote unquote 0:15:43.200 --> 0:15:45.720 bad cold, why is that happening? And it didn't happen 0:15:45.840 --> 0:15:48.600 last year because last year at this time we were 0:15:48.640 --> 0:15:52.080 all heavily masking. Last year at this time, we were 0:15:52.120 --> 0:15:56.600 all heavily testing. Those things have now gone out the window. 0:15:56.880 --> 0:15:59.720 And what happens is our immune systems you tell me 0:16:00.120 --> 0:16:03.120 of them, because you're the doctor, that our immune systems 0:16:03.160 --> 0:16:07.640 are not as um robust as they were to kind 0:16:07.680 --> 0:16:12.240 of these other particles, other germs that are in the 0:16:12.320 --> 0:16:15.640 air because we had kind of kept ourselves at a 0:16:15.680 --> 0:16:19.880 distance and separate from other people. And the masking really 0:16:19.920 --> 0:16:24.120 does work obviously in terms of keeping us healthy and safe. 0:16:24.120 --> 0:16:27.920 And so can you can you talk about I guess 0:16:28.520 --> 0:16:33.080 those shifts and changes and how we you know, maybe 0:16:33.120 --> 0:16:39.040 some ideas about how we prepare our immune systems to 0:16:39.760 --> 0:16:43.360 um to kind of to fight against us on top 0:16:43.440 --> 0:16:47.080 of right, in addition to folks, uh not an andor, 0:16:47.200 --> 0:16:50.560 but in addition to getting boosted and getting the flu shot, 0:16:50.920 --> 0:16:54.000 what are some things that we can be doing to 0:16:54.040 --> 0:16:57.080 boost our immune systems. Well, the scary thing about this 0:16:57.320 --> 0:17:01.360 XBB one point five whatever, the new one, is that 0:17:01.440 --> 0:17:05.840 it looks very immune evasive, and so it's not like, 0:17:06.440 --> 0:17:09.480 oh u, I had COVID six months ago and therefore 0:17:09.520 --> 0:17:12.360 I'm in good shape. Like this new this new variant 0:17:12.440 --> 0:17:17.520 is very immune evasive, and so it's a trade off, right, 0:17:17.560 --> 0:17:19.480 But the best thing you can do is to try 0:17:19.480 --> 0:17:21.960 to not get it right for right now until we 0:17:22.000 --> 0:17:25.360 know more a bit more about it. And that means masking. 0:17:26.359 --> 0:17:29.879 Masking blocks the virus coming into your body, and so 0:17:30.320 --> 0:17:33.560 that's kind of the best thing we got. Now. It's 0:17:33.600 --> 0:17:37.000 a trade off, right, because as you're suggesting people who masked. 0:17:37.040 --> 0:17:41.800 I mean, I have colleagues who massed for years, which 0:17:42.160 --> 0:17:44.119 I kind of did too, And you do have to 0:17:44.160 --> 0:17:46.480 then go kind of retrain your immune system. It's like 0:17:46.640 --> 0:17:52.760 almost like you're you're like a new bee. Yeah, And 0:17:52.880 --> 0:17:56.040 so I don't think that masking all the time is 0:17:56.080 --> 0:17:57.639 ever gon. We're never going to go back to that. 0:17:57.640 --> 0:18:00.399 We're never going to go back to mandates. But I 0:18:00.440 --> 0:18:08.840 would say that, I would just say that, Um, it's 0:18:09.560 --> 0:18:11.920 I don't want to be like two alarmist or anything 0:18:12.000 --> 0:18:13.359 like that, but I would just say the best thing 0:18:13.400 --> 0:18:16.760 we have right now in these two months is masking. Now, 0:18:16.800 --> 0:18:19.760 it's hard. Masking is not a realistic opportunity. It's it's 0:18:19.760 --> 0:18:22.200 not realistic when nobody else is masking. It just actually 0:18:22.280 --> 0:18:24.359 makes it really hard to mask, not just because of 0:18:24.359 --> 0:18:29.160 your self conscious but because I don't know people. It's 0:18:29.200 --> 0:18:34.480 not functionally realistic. So, um, but I would just say 0:18:34.520 --> 0:18:37.200 that masking is what we got right now. So get 0:18:37.200 --> 0:18:39.800 a good mask That's that's really the most important thing. 0:18:40.400 --> 0:18:42.520 Get a booster if you can. The booster is not 0:18:42.560 --> 0:18:46.119 going to totally get this variant, but it'll give you 0:18:46.119 --> 0:18:49.639 some anti bodies, which will help you. But but again, 0:18:49.680 --> 0:18:52.120 it's just it's just this weird moment of watching these 0:18:52.320 --> 0:18:56.679 It's like watching a slow mom car wreck. Really is 0:18:56.680 --> 0:18:59.720 really what it feels like, because here's the virus coming, 0:19:00.240 --> 0:19:04.280 and here's America dividing and fracturing and not figuring it 0:19:04.320 --> 0:19:06.480 out and all these kinds of things, and it's a 0:19:06.760 --> 0:19:10.359 it's just a weird time. It's a weird time. Yeah. 0:19:10.359 --> 0:19:12.720 And I you know, and again, you know, to remind 0:19:12.760 --> 0:19:16.040 folks that like, this is your health, right, this is 0:19:16.080 --> 0:19:19.840 your wellness. And so you know, yesterday, as everybody was, 0:19:19.960 --> 0:19:22.639 you know, coming back into town and you know, going 0:19:22.640 --> 0:19:25.679 to the grocery store and all of these things, I 0:19:25.720 --> 0:19:29.280 saw more more people in my neighborhood in mass in 0:19:29.320 --> 0:19:33.000 the grocery store than I've seen in the last six months. Yeah. 0:19:33.720 --> 0:19:35.840 And whether or not it was because they had a 0:19:35.880 --> 0:19:37.400 cold and they didn't want to give it to other 0:19:37.440 --> 0:19:40.439 people or they're now starting to, you know, sense that 0:19:40.520 --> 0:19:42.840 a lot of people around them, as as I have, 0:19:43.080 --> 0:19:46.600 are getting sick and just don't want it. And I 0:19:46.640 --> 0:19:51.600 think that to Jonathan's point, which is that yes, the 0:19:51.640 --> 0:19:55.600 boosters are not going to like turn you into a 0:19:55.680 --> 0:19:58.959 superhero that you have a full body shield. But what 0:19:59.040 --> 0:20:02.960 it will do is that it will help your ability 0:20:03.320 --> 0:20:07.040 to fight off whatever it is that comes into your system. 0:20:07.320 --> 0:20:10.760 The mask is to prevent anything from coming into your system. 0:20:11.040 --> 0:20:14.800 The boosters and the vaccines are that if something does 0:20:14.840 --> 0:20:17.040 come into your systems, that you're not going to be 0:20:17.320 --> 0:20:21.560 down for the count or you know or at a 0:20:21.560 --> 0:20:25.600 at the extreme need to go to be hospitalized. That's 0:20:25.640 --> 0:20:28.840 the point here is that if we take these you know, 0:20:29.160 --> 0:20:33.840 thoughtful steps and measures, then we can prevent severe illness 0:20:34.040 --> 0:20:39.280 and severe severe illness to Jonathan's point also includes law 0:20:39.400 --> 0:20:43.479 from it. Yes, so tell us again, Jonathan, just to 0:20:43.480 --> 0:20:47.640 remind folks, because I want us to be their alarm. 0:20:47.840 --> 0:20:50.440 What are some of the things that I've been happening 0:20:50.480 --> 0:20:55.840 with folks who have long COVID. Well, it's just it's 0:20:55.880 --> 0:20:58.280 just for it's you're tired, and you feel like you 0:20:58.280 --> 0:21:01.560 have the flu and last for nine months or something. 0:21:01.920 --> 0:21:06.040 And so I just think that I've got colleagues whose 0:21:06.119 --> 0:21:10.639 kids have pairicardial disease, hard you know, inflammation, some people 0:21:10.680 --> 0:21:16.840 have lung disease, exhaustion, um and and unfortunately, we were 0:21:16.880 --> 0:21:19.640 just learning a lot more about long COVID. I think 0:21:19.680 --> 0:21:21.840 what we think about it now is very different than 0:21:22.880 --> 0:21:26.159 than what people thought about it, you know, even a 0:21:26.200 --> 0:21:28.480 couple of months ago. And I think what we're seeing 0:21:28.600 --> 0:21:32.959 is that there's a new strain of thought about long COVID, 0:21:33.000 --> 0:21:37.399 that it's actually the residual effect of the actual virus. 0:21:37.640 --> 0:21:41.280 It's not it's not like oh, your bodies whatever, that 0:21:41.280 --> 0:21:44.479 actually there's still residual virus in your in your system 0:21:44.600 --> 0:21:49.000 and so um. And so we're still learning about it. Um. 0:21:50.200 --> 0:21:54.040 But but again it's hard because the vaccine may or 0:21:54.080 --> 0:21:56.840 may not help with long COVID, depending on kind of 0:21:57.400 --> 0:21:59.399 I mean, there's still there's still a bunch of uncertainty. 0:21:59.600 --> 0:22:01.720 And again, and this is understandable, we've only been in 0:22:01.720 --> 0:22:05.240 this fight three years. But I would say that what 0:22:05.280 --> 0:22:10.400 we've done, which is the biggest mistake, is really stopped 0:22:10.440 --> 0:22:12.920 all the development of our knowledge, right we I mean, 0:22:13.040 --> 0:22:18.000 the current vivalent vaccine that we have is the current 0:22:18.160 --> 0:22:22.479 valent vaccine that we have is is the result of 0:22:22.520 --> 0:22:25.639 like a lot of science about what the virus looked 0:22:25.640 --> 0:22:28.720 like two years ago. And but we have the technology 0:22:28.760 --> 0:22:33.280 to continually update update the vaccine, update our treatments, and 0:22:33.359 --> 0:22:35.760 I know that work is kind of happening in a way, 0:22:35.840 --> 0:22:38.280 but it's not happening the way it would be if 0:22:38.640 --> 0:22:41.320 we were federally funding more research, which was what we're 0:22:41.320 --> 0:22:45.240 not doing. Yeah, and you know, and what I will say, 0:22:46.560 --> 0:22:50.600 and I think it was recently on MSNBC a doctor 0:22:50.800 --> 0:22:54.360 was on Jonathan and she said that, you know, there 0:22:54.359 --> 0:22:57.840 are still thousands of people that are being hospitalized in 0:22:57.920 --> 0:23:02.159 hundreds that are dying every day from COVID. And while 0:23:02.280 --> 0:23:06.040 mainstream media doesn't still have the ticker on that we 0:23:06.160 --> 0:23:08.919 all got kind of used to in twenty twenty and 0:23:08.960 --> 0:23:12.600 twenty twenty one that outlined what was happening in each 0:23:12.640 --> 0:23:16.639 and every state, it doesn't mean that it isn't happening. 0:23:17.000 --> 0:23:20.200 And so the point of this message for our first 0:23:20.280 --> 0:23:24.240 recording together is to remind people that COVID has not 0:23:24.280 --> 0:23:29.400 gone away, that because we have this triple pandemic with COVID, 0:23:29.480 --> 0:23:33.200 the flu and RSV, that we need to be doing 0:23:33.320 --> 0:23:38.119 everything that we can, which includes masking indoors and in 0:23:38.119 --> 0:23:41.040 places that are crowded. If you're outdoors as well, but 0:23:41.119 --> 0:23:44.800 it's crowded to be taking care of yourself. And look, 0:23:45.280 --> 0:23:47.879 it's fucking winter and most of the places right like, 0:23:48.119 --> 0:23:51.919 why are you going out anyway, so you know, be 0:23:52.119 --> 0:23:56.720 mindful of those get togethers, and be mindful of how 0:23:58.520 --> 0:24:02.400 you are taking care of yourself and the folks around you, 0:24:02.680 --> 0:24:06.680 and maybe begin to slowly institute the things that we 0:24:06.680 --> 0:24:10.879 were doing before, which is washing your hands, which is 0:24:11.520 --> 0:24:14.439 you know, making sure that you're wearing a mask and 0:24:14.440 --> 0:24:18.560 crowded spaces. Maybe not going to the large you know, 0:24:18.960 --> 0:24:24.240 uh indoor event. And if you are going, please get boosted, 0:24:24.320 --> 0:24:28.199 Please do the things that unnecessary to keep yourself safe, 0:24:29.320 --> 0:24:33.879 and advocate for continual support. I mean, we're about to 0:24:33.880 --> 0:24:36.840 get a barrage where the entire COVID apparatus is going 0:24:36.840 --> 0:24:41.480 to be seen as a a China plot and a 0:24:41.520 --> 0:24:45.879 government plot and an oppression plot. And so the politics 0:24:45.880 --> 0:24:51.480 of COVID, unfortunately are also mutating, and so and so 0:24:51.960 --> 0:24:56.120 we are I just everybody be careful, but also realize 0:24:56.200 --> 0:25:02.280 that this is a system issue also. So last thing, Jonathan, 0:25:02.600 --> 0:25:12.320 for you is what are you seeing? Again? Largely the 0:25:12.400 --> 0:25:15.600 United States seemed to over the last couple of years 0:25:15.680 --> 0:25:19.080 lagged behind in about three weeks to a month behind 0:25:19.359 --> 0:25:25.000 other countries. That we're giving us some mirror into what 0:25:25.160 --> 0:25:28.640 to expect. And so is there anything that you've been 0:25:28.680 --> 0:25:34.800 following internationally over the last month, the past month, that 0:25:35.040 --> 0:25:40.040 is giving providing some intel and foresight into where we're headed. 0:25:40.680 --> 0:25:43.800 I mean China, un least the orc army of COVID 0:25:44.040 --> 0:25:49.800 on us. The zero COVID policy was great idea for 0:25:49.840 --> 0:25:55.879 a while there, just the virus outlasted the policy. And 0:25:56.040 --> 0:25:59.320 we know that the virus mutates as it circulates, and 0:25:59.359 --> 0:26:03.280 so all of a sudden got a billion more circulators 0:26:04.680 --> 0:26:09.440 and and and also a complete clampdown on information about 0:26:09.440 --> 0:26:12.359 what's happening in China, and so I think it's going 0:26:12.400 --> 0:26:16.080