AMY GOODMAN: Dr. Khan, you're the former head of the CDC's Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response, which included overseeing the Strategic National Stockpile on emergency medical supplies. Can you account for, many months into this pandemic, the United States continuing to have a shortage of tests and masks?
DR. ALI KHAN: I have no explanation for that. I have said I could have grown polypropylene trees by this time for nasal swabs, given the ingenuity of Americans and our biomedical complex to create these material, personal protective equipment, to contain tests make tests. So I really have no explanation for that.
I can say, though, that we have enough testing in the United States currently, if we used it correctly and we got a timely result back and didn't have to wait a week for the result. So, really, this goes back to strategy. We do not have the right strategy in the United States to get this disease contained. And if we did, we wouldn't be worried about personal protective equipment, right? South Korea today had 40 cases. Right? They're not worried about personal protective equipment. So we're worried about these things because we can't contain the disease and not willing to do the hard things, not willing to take strip politics out of this, base it on the science and get this disease under control.
JUAN GONZÃ LEZ: Dr. Khan, I wanted to ask you about the role of Anthony Fauci in terms of the handling of this disease, because, on the one hand, we see the reality that the Trump administration is trying to undermine his credibility these days as he increasingly comes into conflict with what the president wants to do, but, on the other hand, there are some legitimate questions. And in the early parts of the pandemic, Dr. Fauci did urge people not to wear masks. Now, he didn't couch it by saying there's a shortage.
DR. ALI KHAN: There wasn't a shortage.
JUAN GONZÃ LEZ: But at that time, most people in Asian countries were wearing masks, widespread use among the population. Your assessment of how Dr. Fauci has handled the crisis?
DR. ALI KHAN: So, really, this isn't about Dr. Fauci, right? This is about CDC, which is our nation's public health agency. And we need to see our nation's public health agency get their role back, to educate the American people, to provide the necessary data and get us back into containment.
And there's no doubt that there were missteps made by our public health agencies and public health professionals. Masks is a good example the lack of a strategy that couldn't tell the difference between flu and a SARS virus, you know, the lack of testing. So, there was invariably there were a lot of missteps.
However, what we need now is, we need that talent we've always had at CDC back at the forefront talking about public health issues. That's where our public health expertise resides. It resides at CDC, not at the NIH, not at ASPR, not at whatever. It resides at CDC. We need to hear CDC's voice, bring those wonderful, amazing people, the greatest public health agency in the world, back to the forefront and help us contain this disease.
JUAN GONZÃ LEZ: And how optimistic are you about the development of a vaccine?
DR. ALI KHAN: I am optimistic; however, the road to an uncertain vaccine is paved in death. Right? So, we talk about 60,000 cases a day. So that's basically we're minting 600 to a thousand new death certificates every day. Right? We can't wait for a vaccine. Right? And other countries have gotten their diseases contained and eliminated without a vaccine. So, yes, I would love a vaccine. There's lots of data that makes it problematic. Immunity may be short-lived. We've never had vaccines based on these technologies. So, as anybody else, I'm optimistic. I hope there's a vaccine. We don't need a vaccine today so that we don't kill another 600 to a thousand people tomorrow. We have the tools.
AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk, Dr. Ali Khan, about what it would mean if the president of the United States simply put on a mask on a regular basis? Trump seeing a mask as weakness only this past weekend, you saw him for a minute wearing a mask, and he said, well, he was in a hospital? The significance of what this would mean at the federal level? Then you see it go down to the state level, his biggest allies, DeSantis, the governor of Florida, for the first time donning a mask. In Arizona we're going to go to and speak with the mayor of Tucson today Governor Ducey, a recent death in Arizona of a Mexican American man. His daughter said, "I say that the governor and the president have blood on their hands." Do you feel the same way, Dr. Khan?
DR. ALI KHAN: I believe all of government has blood on their hands 136,000 deaths, preventable deaths, a tragedy. There's a lot of blood to go around here, Amy, let's be very honest, you know, if you look at the rest of the world, that's contained their disease, and some even eliminated. So there's a lot of blood to go around.
But what you saw in countries that were successful was that each and every politician, regardless of their party, followed the science. So, everybody said, "Wear masks." No controversy. Everybody wore a mask. They got their disease under control. And we need to see that again right now at every political level local, state, national. Wear a mask. That's one of the four strategies that will get us out of this mess. So we need everybody to be wearing a mask at this point.
AMY GOODMAN: Let me ask you about some of the recent studies out of China, Germany and Britain, suggesting that people who have had COVID-19 begin losing their antibodies in just a few months. So, even if there was a vaccine, the significance of this, Dr. Khan, and also of the younger people that we are seeing get sick and die all over the country?
DR. ALI KHAN: So, Amy, two great questions. So, yes, if your immunity is short-lived, that makes this makes finding a vaccine, we're chasing rainbows, right? So, again, a reminder: We don't need a vaccine to get out of this mess. Even today, I'm very hopeful. Public health still works today the way it worked at the end of January. We can get this outbreak under control.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
