Community Corner
“Not the Doomsday Variant”
Dr. Eric Topol's Concerns Around Omicron and America's Low Vaccination Rate
This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter welcome Dr. Eric Topol, Founder and Director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, for his perspective on the rapid spread of the Omicron variant.
Dr. Topol says early data show that it is highly transmissible, but apparently not more deadly. His greater concern is around the current Delta surge leading to more infections, low vaccination rates in developing countries leading to more variants, and the “abysmal” vaccination performance in the U.S. He says mRNA vaccines should be considered a three-dose protocol, and that rapid testing and virus sequencing should be more broadly deployed to contain the spread of the virus.
