Layers of mitigation against the virus remains ‘critical’: Doctor

Dr. Patrice Harris, Former President of the AMA and CEO of eMed, joins Yahoo Finance’s Kristin Myers and Alexis Christoforous to discuss the latest on the coronavirus.

Video Transcript

KRISTIN MYERS: Let's turn now to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Alarmingly, we are seeing coronavirus cases continue to rise around the country as the race to vaccinate Americans continues to speed up. So let's bring in Dr. Patrice Harris, former president of the American Medical Association and CEO of eMed. And Dr. Harris will be joining us by phone today.

So Dr. Harris, I mean, are we in the middle of another wave, or are we not? I know that cases are spiking. And if so, do we need to reconsider a lot of the re-opening efforts that we see states making right now?

PATRICE HARRIS: Well, we absolutely are seeing an increase in the number of cases, and this is certainly alarming. Just as we were seeing these cases decline and plateau and just as we are seeing an increase in the availability of vaccinations, these increases are very concerning. It would not be good for us to be in a fourth wave. I certainly can appreciate that folks are tired of being indoors and want to be out more, but we are still in the middle of this pandemic. It is too early to let our guard down. And that does mean that we should be very cautious in reopening. We should not reopen too soon.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: You know, Doctor, we're getting some data on just how many people are starting to take to the skies again. They feel more comfortable about flying as that vaccine rollout continues to ramp up. Would you advise folks to pause and perhaps not take that trip? I mean, we're talking to lots of people who are saying that planes are full right now. Prices are going up because demand is so high. Should people not be freely going out and traveling the way they seem to be going to be doing in the spring and the summertime?

PATRICE HARRIS: Well, listen, it is very important that everyone assesses their own individual risk. And certainly, there are those who have been vaccinated with no underlying health problems-- certainly, after they do the evaluation and depending on where they're going and what activities they plan to be involved, there may be less risk. I think, you know, there are no one-size-fits-all blanket recommendations. We do know that the airlines have done a lot regarding airflow. But of course, the actual time on the plane is just a piece of the process, and that's why what we've always known and what we've always said about the importance of the layers of protection remains critical. It remained critical six months ago, and it remains critical today.

And so we can think about vaccines. Of course, we can and must still think about mask wearing. We should think about testing and making sure that folks know whether or not-- you know, if they've not been vaccinated, whether or not they are positive or not. So it's about layers of mitigation and everyone assessing their own individual risk and, of course, the risk of those who they plan to be around.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: So what I'm hearing, Doctor, is that the vaccine does not eliminate the threat of COVID or the variants that we're seeing and that testing is still a very critical part of the equation, even if a person has been vaccinated. And I know that you're head of a company called eMed that has a test. I believe it's an at-home test. Could you tell us a little bit about that and how that sort of fits into trying to battle COVID-19?

PATRICE HARRIS: Because we have these conversations-- we have to make sure that we have conversations and we talk about individuals and we talk about population health, right? So individual health and population health, no question. And I am fortunate enough to have received both the doses of the Moderna vaccine, and I have been vaccinated. And so based on the studies to date, and we just saw studies yesterday regarding the Pfizer vaccine, and certainly, those data support that the vaccine remains highly effective after six months. So that's me on an individual basis.

Again, but that-- remember, the vaccines prevent severe illness, and they prevent hospitalization and death. Good news on that. It does not mean that I or anyone else who has received the vaccine is 100% prevented from becoming infected with the vaccine. But clearly, 100%-- we've seen data, 100% reduction of risk of severe illness and hospitalization.

But when we look on a population level, absolutely, testing still remains an important tool in the toolbox because we know today, not everyone has been vaccinated and we don't expect everyone to be vaccinated. And we still-- we've seen some early good news around vaccines in children and younger teenagers, but we still need that data. And so we will still not have everyone vaccinated for months to come. And that's why, again, all of those layers of mitigation and protection-- it still is important to-- being outdoors door is, of course, less risk than being indoors.

Mask-wearing and the testing at eMed-- the company, I'm the CEO-- we do offer an at-home opportunity end-to-end for testing. And that is so important to be able to have that additional tool in the toolbox to be able to test at home. We think about the opportunities as we do open up but open up with those layers of protection so that folks can go back to work, play, worship and school.

KRISTIN MYERS: All right, Doctor, you know, you're talking about the vaccines, and I want to ask you about vaccine hesitancy. We had Johnson & Johnson say that some of their batches failed to meet, you know, quality standards. We've all seen the really bad headlines out there about blood clots and AstraZeneca's vaccine. We hear all the time about people testing positive for coronavirus even after they've been vaccinated. But you know, we keep getting a lot of those concerns that people have around the vaccines dismissed. Pretty bluntly, I'm just going to ask you, are there concerns that we're not really addressing or talking about because we want every American, or every person, to get vaccinated?

PATRICE HARRIS: Well, certainly, that was a setback where that vaccine ingredient did not meet quality standards because we know that in some areas, the demand is outpacing the supply. So any time there is a setback to the supply, that is not good news. But on the other hand, we can look at it as if-- and understand it so that the quality controls are in place, right? And so that was identified early. And that is what is key, I believe, to those who still have questions-- appropriate questions.

We want to get to vaccine hesitants, and it's about being transparent. And so I know that I have and so many other leaders, physicians, scientists, public health professionals-- we have been transparent about the side effects. It's good that we are transparent about the fact that that ingredient did not meet quality standards.

Now it's important, again, with the transparency, with the truth about the side effects, making sure folks have all the information, then we have seen folks become more vaccine confident. And so much so that in many communities of color-- of course, we know the history there-- but we've still seen demand outstrip supply. So being transparent, giving people accurate, fact-based, science-based information, trying to combat the misinformation that's out there will certainly continue to go a long way so that folks can make informed decisions about their own health regarding COVID-19 vaccine. And that holds true about any particular decision that people have to make about their health care.

KRISTIN MYERS: I want to quickly ask you here, Doctor, we've seen the race gap really widen as the vaccinations are starting to speed up. I'm wondering if you think that states should let-- set aside appointments specifically for minorities or for underserved zip codes and communities.

PATRICE HARRIS: You know, that is one alternative, and I think that each state should do all that they can. They should think about where the demand is. Because you know, just as stated, there is increased demand in communities of color. So they should make sure that there is appropriate access where the demand is.

And by the way, there are other tools in the toolbox. Not everyone is computer savvy. There was a senior here in Atlanta that said she's just not computer savvy. And so what did she do? She went down to Mercedes-Benz Stadium. She said, I'm just going to show up. This was an African-American woman. And she was able to get a vaccine that day.

So we need to think about that. We need to think about door-knocking. I've seen that in certain communities. A good colleague, a friend of mine in California, Dr. Jerry Abraham, has really been about the business of working in his community, making sure there are sites there. I've seen others talk about mobile sites.

So we need to do it all. Clearly, we have to be intentional because those disparities are not OK. When it-- they weren't OK when it came to testing. One of the reasons why I was so glad to be involved in eMed, because we wanted to improve access. So these disparities are not OK when it comes to testing, clearly not OK when it comes to health inequity, and they are not OK when it comes to vaccines. And so we have to have all hands on deck to make sure testing is available and vaccines are available in communities that need them the most.

KRISTIN MYERS: Absolutely. Dr. Patrice Harris, former president of the AMA, CEO of eMed, thanks so much for joining us for this conversation.