Dr. Eric Topol urges America to do better in addressing COVID

Dr. Eric Topol, Founder, and Director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, is one of the nation’s most prominent COVID experts. This week, Margaret Flinter and I had the opportunity to talk to him on “Conversations on Health Care” about BA.5, the latest COVID subvariant.??

A lot has changed since we spoke with him in December as the omicron variant began taking over for delta. Dr. Topol noted that the BA.5 subvariant is the worst we’ve seen yet – not in deaths or hospitalizations - but because of just how contagious it is. Anecdotally, the infection is lasting longer and we’re seeing an increased number of reinfections.

We also discussed how the anti-vax and anti-science movements have thwarted efforts to move forward with a nasal vaccine, a variant-proof vaccine, and additional therapies for treating COVID. He said this is especially important because of the threat of Paxlovid-resistant variants developing. He pointed out that the U.S. currently ranks 67th in the percentage of adults that have received the boosters, behind Rwanda and Iran.??

Instead of continuing to chase the variants of COVID, the U.S. needs an effort to get ahead of the virus once and for all. Dr. Topol noted that we can do better; we just have to get out and do it.