AMY GOODMAN: And can I ask you about this new observation? Not really new among the docs all over the country. I had gotten this random text last week: It's not about the pneumonia, it's about the blood clots. And I wanted to read to you from a Washington Post piece, "A mysterious blood-clotting complication is killing coronavirus patients." It says, "Increasingly, doctors also are reporting bizarre, unsettling cases that don't seem to follow any of the textbooks they've trained on. They describe patients with startlingly low oxygen levels so low that they would normally be unconscious or near death talking and swiping on their phones. Asymptomatic pregnant women suddenly in cardiac arrest. Patients who by all conventional measures seem to have mild disease deteriorating within minutes and dying at home." And they're saying it seems to be this issue of blood clots. In fact, the first person now, who's believed to be weeks before we really believed, a 57-year-old woman in California, who was in very good shape, no preexisting conditions, it looks like she also died in this way, of sudden maybe cardiac arrest, and people didn't identify it as coronavirus in the beginning of February. What about this blood clotting issue?
DR. SYRA MADAD: It certainly is an issue. And from what we're seeing, you know, what hospitals are reporting, it is becoming and I wouldn't say "becoming" it does seem to be a common issue. But what we're also seeing is that, you know, while maybe folks may think that COVID-19 is more implicated with the lungs, we're actually seeing a number of different organs within the body actually in distress and having various manifestations. So you're seeing issues with kidneys and heart and brain and liver. And so, the way that it can manifest is obviously very different, and it depends on the individual, their immunoresponse and the body response.
But what we also don't know is the sequel. And what I mean by that is the long-term effects of COVID-19. And this is something as I mentioned, it's a new virus. It's only about four or five months old. And we're learning a lot about it, and a lot we don't know. And everyone is really learning at the same time. We're relying on each other to be transparent and show data and share some of the case studies that we're seeing, that may help others that are obviously treating individuals with COVID-19.
But, you know, I think a good example would be, for example, Zika. You know, Zika was relatively something that a healthcare system did not experience that in the magnitude that we did a few years ago. And you saw, obviously, children being born with microcephaly and having other issues. Those individuals, those children, are still being studied long-term to actually look at the full effect of Zika. And you're still seeing data come out.
And similarly with COVID-19, this being a new virus in and of itself, it's going to take years for us to actually see the long-term effects, because we need to follow these individuals for their entire lifetime to actually see, you know, does it have additional effects on them, not just during the acute stage when they're actually infected and in the hospital, but also once they get discharged. Is it going to have any effect on their health, moving forward? And really, that's a question that we don't have an answer to yet.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: And, Dr. Madad, very quickly, before we conclude, as I'm sure you know, many people are relying on the development of a vaccine, even if it will take from 12 to 18 months. But you've said that even a vaccine won't be a silver bullet, as you said. Why is that? And what about your concerns about certain people perhaps not getting the vaccine even once it's available? Why would people do that?
DR. SYRA MADAD: Well, first, I think when we say 12 to 18 months, you know, that is an optimistic timeline. Is it realistic? I don't think it is very realistic, knowing that developing a vaccine actually takes years and years. And we really need to be very careful in making sure that we're having a safe and effective vaccine to actually administer to the American public and globally.
And I think once we do have a vaccine that is safe and proven to be safe and effective, and whenever that will be, we're going to have to jump through additional hurdles, like those that are hesitant to actually get vaccinated. You know, as you may be aware, the anti-vax movement is vast. It actually is one of the biggest one of the biggest global health problems that we have in the world. So we need to make sure that even once we have a vaccine available, people are actually able and less reluctant to actually get vaccinated. But even on top of that, when these vaccines are manufactured, not everybody is going to get the vaccine at the same time. There are going to be there's going to be a short supply. And to get everyone vaccinated will take years. You know, we're a very, very large country with many individuals. And to be able to vaccinate everybody that is eligible to get vaccinated will take at least a year or two, or maybe even longer. And so we need to really face the facts and know that this is where we're at, and we know that there's going to be additional hurdles once that vaccine is available. And so, this whole notion of herd immunity, and so on and so forth, we really need to give it a lot more thought.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, we want to thank you so much, Dr. Syra Madad, infectious disease specialist, special pathogens expert, featured in the first episode of this remarkable series that came out on Netflix called Pandemic, which, unbelievably enough, came out right at the beginning. And, Dr. Madad, we're so thankful that you and your family now are safe, are healthy, and we just hope that for the rest of the country and the world.
We also have this breaking news: The Labor Department has just reported another 4.4 million people, U.S. citizens, filed for unemployment claims over the last week, bringing the total over the past five weeks to over 26 million. That doesn't even include the millions of undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. who have lost their jobs due to the pandemic, and those who tried to apply but weren't able to.
When we come back, we speak to another doctor, a global health expert, about the efforts to stop the daily spread of COVID-19 with contact tracing in Massachusetts following those who have been in contact with those who have COVID-19. Stay with us.
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