Doctor's holiday gathering advice amid pandemic: 'Being vaccinated goes a long way'

Dr. Lakshman Swamy, and ICU physician at Cambridge Health Alliance & Boston Medical Center, joins Yahoo Finance Live to discuss the latest news surrounding the pandemic and provide advice for holiday gatherings.

Video Transcript

JARED BLIKRE: On the COVID front, the Delta variant is snaking its way out west, driving up hospitalization rates around the Rockies and parts of the north as well, that's as COVID trends ease in Southern states like Florida and Texas. And here to break down the latest is Dr. Lakshman Swamy, ICU physician at Cambridge Health Alliance and Boston Medical Center. Doctor, thank you for joining us here.

And I think, if we've learned anything after about a year and a half of this, it's difficult to predict the next trend and where it's going to inflect. But my question is, do we have a new trend inflecting right now? How concerned should we be about these rising rates in the west and north?

LAKSHMAN SWAMY: Thanks for having me, Jared. I think you've made two great points. First, we are not excellent at predicting anything with COVID. That's certainly true. But on the other hand, I think what we're seeing is, unfortunately, going to be a worst case compared to last winter. Last winter, we didn't have vaccinations. We had a lot of indoor gatherings. We saw a big surge here in Boston after that.

I'm worried that what we're going to see now is the same thing. But with the unvaccinated and Delta, it's going to be even worse in those cases. And that's what we're seeing in the north and the west right now.

JARED BLIKRE: I have to tell you, not everybody I talked to thinks that it's going to be worse this winter. What about these southern states that I was talking about, like Florida and Texas, where we're seeing an easing of a lot of the key rates? How concerned are you about those states?

LAKSHMAN SWAMY: Yeah, I think that this goes to the point that our prediction is just not excellent. You would think that places that don't have excellent vaccination, that aren't conforming all of this are maybe going to have a worst case. Maybe the warmer weather will help. Maybe people won't be gathering indoors.

But the reality is, human behavior, outside of the behavior of getting vaccinated, only plays a partial role in controlling the spread here. So maybe it has kind of burnt out a little bit there for now. I'm sure it'll come back. But I think what we are--

I would be shocked if there weren't parts of this country that were hit hard this winter. Where that will be, I'm not totally sure.

JARED BLIKRE: So in the broader debate that America and the world seems to be having, is the pandemic over? Are we transitioning to a system where we have an endemic, where it's more localized? Is it possible, in your world view right now, that we can put the pandemic and that terminology in the rearview mirror, or is it simply-- [GARBLED AUDIO]

LAKSHMAN SWAMY: Well, I think that the way I like to think about it is not quite in the rearview mirror. But I think we are heading there. With vaccines for kids starting, that's a huge step forward. With more and more people getting boosters, that's going to help. The biggest thing is getting first shots into arms that haven't had them yet.

But I do think we're seeing patches of the country with very high vaccination rates. I mean, look at us here in Boston. It honestly just hasn't been hit that bad, I think, due to the high vaccination rates. I hope that holds. And I think that we could see that across the country if we could just get those shots into arms.

JARED BLIKRE: Well, yeah, I was going to ask you about your outlook there from Boston and Massachusetts in general. Can you speak as to the trends that you're seeing in the Northeast or just based on your boots on the ground there in Boston?

LAKSHMAN SWAMY: Yeah here's what I can say. I think overall, even one case of COVID in the ICU is just harrowing and takes over. But on the other hand, I think what we're seeing is a lot. It's dulled compared to the other parts of the country, which have really been under so much more duress.

That said, we're still seeing it. And cases are rising. So I am worried about what's happening. It's getting colder here. And people are going to be gathering indoors more and more. I think that getting the kids vaccinated will do a lot there.

If you get your kid your first shot before the 20th of November, you should be able to have them fully protected by Christmas. I think that'll go a long way. But I can only hope for the best. I think we are seeing more cases. We are seeing sicker people.

JARED BLIKRE: And then your recommendations for holiday travel, holiday gatherings? What kind of precautions or just outright avoidance should people practice?

LAKSHMAN SWAMY: Although we're still in this pandemic, at the same time, being vaccinated goes a really long way. I think if you're having a small gathering, a couple of families indoors, everyone's vaccinated, the adults certainly, I honestly would feel pretty safe about that, about not being masked and everything. I think it really changes when you add more variables in, like more and more families, more people coming from out of state, not everyone's vaccinated. I would start to really worry then.

JARED BLIKRE: Well, and before you go, I've got to get you to weigh in on Aaron Rodgers, that controversy. It kind of encapsulates the vaccine mandate debate that we're having in this country. Just wondering what you're thinking from a medical perspective.

LAKSHMAN SWAMY: Well, I mean, I think it's really a huge problem that you can't know if someone's vaccinated or not. I think a national registry would go a long way for that. Now, that said, I think there's a balance between pushing mandates and getting people to kind of get on board on their own.

I think the social pressure of vaccination should be just as strong as stronger than some of these mandates. And that's how, I think, we're going to get there. It is not fair to say that you're vaccinated and that you are not and be transmitting the virus and getting sick. You are putting people at risk.

JARED BLIKRE: Yeah, and not too cool to do that. I do appreciate your thoughts here, Dr. Lakshman Swamy, ICU physician at Cambridge Health Alliance and Boston Medical Center.