We have a very special guest for this week’s episode: Dr. Peter Hotez, Co-Director of the Center for Vaccine Development at Texas Children’s Hospital and Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College. (As many of you likely saw, just yesterday, a low-cost, patent-free vaccine developed by Dr. Hotez and his team received Emergency Use Authorization approval to launch in India. Remarkably, it will result in millions of available doses used to inoculate underserved communities worldwide.)
Given the dramatic impact Covid-19 has had on the NBA this season, I thought we could all benefit by having the opportunity to learn from an expert in the field.
During the podcast, Dr. Hotez expresses his concerns regarding the omicron variant spreading rapidly throughout the country, particularly its potential effect on a health care system already stretched thin.
We also discuss the influence sports superstars such as Kyrie Irving, Aaron Rodgers and LeBron James exert on countrywide vaccination efforts. And why it matters. Dr. Hotez points out that, over the last seven months, dating back to June 1, approximately 200,000 unvaccinated Americans have been killed by Covid. Consequently, Hotez characterizes the anti-vaccine movement as one of the leading killers of young and middle-aged adults in the United States.
Hotez, much like legendary Hall-of-Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, argues that LeBron James’ silence on the subject (his refusal to promote vaccines), or even worse, LeBron’s recent Instagram post tacitly equating Covid-19 to the flu or the common cold, has an outsized impact in fostering vaccine hesitancy, especially within the African-American community. Hotez suggests that superstars such as James and Giannis Antetokounmpo may not be fully aware of just how many people are put in harm’s way as a result of their inaction.
I also ask Dr. Hotez what advice he would give to those well-intentioned folks that have tried in vain to convince their family or friends to get vaccinated.
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