Wonderful interview Eric, with Dr. Peter Hotez, another sure hero of the pandemic, and as he has been for many years before! I really enjoyed the two of your back and forth deep discussions and passionate urgency into the tragic, and frankly, awful Anti-science conundrum. Can't wait to hear from the two of you again on this issue and more!
Great interview and had stopped listening to Peter Hotez and appreciate getting to know him better. Agree science communications is severely needed; early on was frustrated with CDC (still am) positioning ivermectin as primarily an animal drug because I knew it was patently not true. Or that docs shouldn't prescribe off-label. What's interesting now is it's driven some docs who have been ostracized into far-right venues. Dr. Hotez should not be too hard on himself vis a vis communicating: tried in vain to explain post-marketing surveillance (VAERS, etc) to my brother and he hasn't spoken to me in 3 years.
Thank you for the interview. I have to say, as a layman who's tried very hard to become educated on Covid and the vaxes, I find this area still so confusing. I know there's a faction that is hard-core "anti-science" and this has, as you and Dr. Hotez indicate, worked to their detriment. Fox listeners in red counties? Fascinating. But I suggest that for myself, and a large number of others, we fall into a different category. I'm neither a Fox nor MSNBC viewer and do not take an extreme position with regard to vaccines one side or another. (I've received 3 vaccines, but none for over 1.5 years now, I believe. I got Covid 2 years ago, very mild, and people tell me that having had it provides the best immunity of all, so stop with the vaxes. True? Who knows. )
I'll draw a parallel to believing in God: there are hard-core atheists who simply refuse to believe (ie, they refuse to follow the science); but beyond this position, there are far more agnostics who'd LOVE to believe in God, but can't quite get there merely by faith alone. We're not bad, we just want to see a glimmer of proof before we jump in. I believe the pullback on getting a vaccination (or further vaccinations) is bec/ of the stories that a vax might lead to cardiological issues, side-effects, or other up-to-now unknown complications, that might not manifest for months (years?) afterwards. So we're simply overly cautious. I have to admit, after 3 or 4 years of this, I still don't know if my uber-healthy 29 year old athletic daughter should get a vax; should 8 year old children get a vax? The 50 year old male who's 10 pounds overweight? Yes, I guess if I were 75 and obese, I'd get them all. But it's confusing to me, especially in light of the ancillary side-effects I hear about. [ie, LeBron James' son, a super-healthy athlete and others like him... did vaxes contribute to his heart issues? Who knows, right? But what am I to think?]
In any case, I suggest there's a difference between the hard-core anti-science people who refuse vaxes at all costs (and even take a political stand with it,) and the guy like me, who tries to keep up and read the pros and cons from the best sources I can get my hands on, and nonetheless remains confused as ever; so I sit here and hold off til there's more info. I believe I'm part of a large group who's now a bit skeptical, but very very hungry for non-biased and accurate info. Thank you for reading, Michael in AZ.
Wonderful interview Eric, with Dr. Peter Hotez, another sure hero of the pandemic, and as he has been for many years before! I really enjoyed the two of your back and forth deep discussions and passionate urgency into the tragic, and frankly, awful Anti-science conundrum. Can't wait to hear from the two of you again on this issue and more!
Thanks so much, Shannon. You will!
Great interview and had stopped listening to Peter Hotez and appreciate getting to know him better. Agree science communications is severely needed; early on was frustrated with CDC (still am) positioning ivermectin as primarily an animal drug because I knew it was patently not true. Or that docs shouldn't prescribe off-label. What's interesting now is it's driven some docs who have been ostracized into far-right venues. Dr. Hotez should not be too hard on himself vis a vis communicating: tried in vain to explain post-marketing surveillance (VAERS, etc) to my brother and he hasn't spoken to me in 3 years.
Thanks for your perspective, Sue! It's the extreme positions on these issues that are most problematic.
Best interview ever! Hope you do more of these.
Thank you for the interview. I have to say, as a layman who's tried very hard to become educated on Covid and the vaxes, I find this area still so confusing. I know there's a faction that is hard-core "anti-science" and this has, as you and Dr. Hotez indicate, worked to their detriment. Fox listeners in red counties? Fascinating. But I suggest that for myself, and a large number of others, we fall into a different category. I'm neither a Fox nor MSNBC viewer and do not take an extreme position with regard to vaccines one side or another. (I've received 3 vaccines, but none for over 1.5 years now, I believe. I got Covid 2 years ago, very mild, and people tell me that having had it provides the best immunity of all, so stop with the vaxes. True? Who knows. )
I'll draw a parallel to believing in God: there are hard-core atheists who simply refuse to believe (ie, they refuse to follow the science); but beyond this position, there are far more agnostics who'd LOVE to believe in God, but can't quite get there merely by faith alone. We're not bad, we just want to see a glimmer of proof before we jump in. I believe the pullback on getting a vaccination (or further vaccinations) is bec/ of the stories that a vax might lead to cardiological issues, side-effects, or other up-to-now unknown complications, that might not manifest for months (years?) afterwards. So we're simply overly cautious. I have to admit, after 3 or 4 years of this, I still don't know if my uber-healthy 29 year old athletic daughter should get a vax; should 8 year old children get a vax? The 50 year old male who's 10 pounds overweight? Yes, I guess if I were 75 and obese, I'd get them all. But it's confusing to me, especially in light of the ancillary side-effects I hear about. [ie, LeBron James' son, a super-healthy athlete and others like him... did vaxes contribute to his heart issues? Who knows, right? But what am I to think?]
In any case, I suggest there's a difference between the hard-core anti-science people who refuse vaxes at all costs (and even take a political stand with it,) and the guy like me, who tries to keep up and read the pros and cons from the best sources I can get my hands on, and nonetheless remains confused as ever; so I sit here and hold off til there's more info. I believe I'm part of a large group who's now a bit skeptical, but very very hungry for non-biased and accurate info. Thank you for reading, Michael in AZ.