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President Joe Biden tested positive for COVID-19 last week. He’s expected to fully recover and his symptoms are reportedly “mild,” though people have long debated just how “mild” COVID symptoms are. In Biden’s case, he’s experienced a runny nose, fatigue and what his physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor describes as “an occasional non-productive, now ‘loose’ cough.” However, he’s also taking Paxlovid, the antiviral drug, rather than over-the-counter Nyquil or Robitussin.
Biden is fully vaccinated and double-boosted, and vaccine skeptics (i.e. “dullards”) have suggested this means the vaccines don’t work, because they don’t understand how vaccines work. Former White House COVID response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx seemingly agreed with the naysayers during an interview on Fox News’s “Your World.” She told host Neil Cavuto last week,
“I knew these vaccines were not going to protect against infection. And I think we overplayed the vaccines.”
Jesus, why does anyone listen to this person? Back in late 2020, when Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines were granted emergency use authorization, Dr. Birx called them “one of the most highly effective vaccines we have in our infectious disease arsenal.”
Right-wingers have quickly reminded everyone that Biden said a year ago, at a CNN town hall, “You’re not going to get COVID if you have these vaccinations.” Fact-checkers did advise against making absolute guarantees, but that was more an asterisk than a flaming “pants on fire.” Yes, there were reported breakthrough cases and the Delta variant was emerging, but that’s all very different from Dr. Birx’s current remarks. She never said anything at the time about the vaccine not preventing infection.
Data shows the vaccines were effective against original recipe COVID, but it’s the Omicron variants that have proven masters of immune evasion. Dr. Birx suggested that “overplaying” the vaccine “made people then worry that it’s not going to protect against severe disease and hospitalization.” Since she was appearing on Fox News, she might’ve called out the network for its relentlessmisinformationagainst vaccines.
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Even if all the vaccine does is turn a potentially fatal illness into a “bad cold,” that’s still a medical miracle. Donald Trump contracted COVID-19 before the vaccine and was reportedly way sicker than his administration admitted.
Dr. Birx claimed that “50 percent of the people who died from the Omicron surge were older, vaccinated.” She doesn’t mention that waning immunity was reportedly the issue for older, vaccinated people during the surge. The death rates were much lower once they started getting boosted.
DR. BIRX: So that’s why I’m saying even if you’re vaccinated and boosted, if you’re unvaccinated right now, the key is testing and Paxlovid. It’s effective. It’s a great antiviral.
It’s most effective if you’ve already vaccinated and double boosted, like the president. According to Don Herrington, interim director of the Arizona Department of Health Services, “In May, adults who were vaccinated and boosted were eight times less likely to be hospitalized and 21 times less likely to die than unvaccinated individuals.”
Yet, Dr. Birx insists that it’s Paxlovid that’s “going to save your lives right now if you’re over 70, which if you look at the hospitalizations, hospitalizations are rising steadily with new admissions, particularly in those over 70.”
DR. BIRX: And so if you live in the South – I know people keep talking about the fall – I’m worried about the South. I’m worried about rural America and tribal nations that just don’t have access to testing and primary physician like the president.
The South still has comparatively low vaccination rates. This is most pronounced in rural areas that overwhelmingly voted for Donald Trump. A competent physician would tell the MAGA faithful to get vaccinated. If Dr. Birx wasn’t a such a hack, she wouldn’t help Fox News further diminish trust in the vaccines.
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