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today, and someone who has been visible from the beginning of this terrible, unnatural disaster, peter hotezor school of medicine. would you take the astrazeneca vaccine right now? dr. hotez: yes i would, and i have offered to do that. the europeans have been quite time deaf as to how sensitive vaccines are to public perception, or as i often like to say, it doesn't take much to vote even a good vaccine off the island if the public doesn't feel confident. the way european countries have handled this has been abysmal. the ema statement at the european medicine agency is important, but not enough for all of the damage control that is going to be needed. that statement that the german institute made, the regulatory body, was so damming. the fact that the french suspended its use, oblivious to the impact that would have on francophone africa because francophone africa very much gets its guidance from france, i am really worried about what is going to happen in the coming weeks. tom: i have noticed brazil and latin america seem to be unraveling. to make a must attend yet is a statistical mystery

peter hotez, dean of the national school of tropical medicine at baylor college of medicine. dr. ts into the current vaccine delivery program? >> well, we urgently need a third vaccine and we will need a fourth and a fifth as well. we have a daunting task ahead. our original estimates were 60% to 80% of the u.s. population needs to be vaccinated to slow or halt virus transmission and save lives. and now with the new variants, with concerns of being more transmissible, like the board of arbitration s 1rks, that's right. pivoting towards adolescents. the only disappointing news about j&j is the fact we have only 3 million to 4 million doses right now. the whole point of operation warp speed was to manufacture at risk so it's ready to go. we don't have a lot of time. with the new variant accelerating, the original timetable of the fall is out the window, got to vaccinate american people by late spring, early summer, so i'm disappointed to learn we have so little vaccine coming and still have to wait for the mother lode to come over the summer. so that's a problem. >> as practical mat

peter hotez, author of "preventing the next pandemic," out today.rd president biden say we're on track to have enough vaccine supply, not in arms but enough supply for every adult american by the end of may. how do we get those shots into arms? >> yeah. first of all, jake, i thought that was an incredibly important speech. those were very important remarks and he hit -- that was a home run in many respects. that's our biggest hurdle right now. we are opening up a lot of vaccination hubs, expanding them, including in low-income neighborhoods, going beyond the pharmacy chains and hospital chains. the problem has been we don't have an adequate supply of vaccine. number one, taking the defense production act and working with merck & company, two of the biggest multinational companies for making vaccines is merck. lot of hest is and lot of power for making vaccines. it's important he brokered that deal. i have a lot more confidence that we can accelerate production of the j&j vaccine. that's really important. and getting this by may is absolutely critica

peter hotez and what needs to be done coming up. to be done coming up don't settle for products that give you a sort of white smile. try new crest whitening emulsions for 100% whiter teeth. its highly active peroxide droplets swipe on in seconds. better. faster. 100% whiter teeth. crestwhitesmile.com overspending on a retinol cream? just one jar of olay retinol24 hydrates better than the $100 retinol cream. for smooth, bright skin or your money back. olay. face anything. and try new retinol24 max. >>> by the end of last april covid-19 had already ravaged the new york metropolitan area. the virus had still only been in the united states a few months and there were a lot of experts -- there was a lot experts did not know. cdc director robert red fern told the washington post, there is a possibility the assault on our nation next winter will be more difficult than the one we just went through. we're going to have the flu epidemic and the coronavirus epidemic at the same time. it was a totally reasonable concern at the time. for months

peter hotez. >> do you agree with this recommendation? >> yes, because it was done out of massachusetts and utah and they did a study looking at half a million kids in massachusetts comparing students three and six feet apart. there are a lot of caveats. in areas of high transmission, they want to keep the high school and junior high school at six feet apart. let's say where there is a choir or singing, you want to increase that. the most important part to mention about these guidelines -- it depends on a lot of things. first of all, the amount of ventilation in a classroom. if you have a poorly ventilated classroom, even six feet may not be enough, certainly not if you are not wearing masks. also, in terms of getting teachers vaccinated, there is also the issue around level of community transmission as well. we have to be careful not to stick everything at the boiler plate of three feet or six feet. >> we will be talking to you later, but we wanted to start out with the breaking news and we will

peter hotez, thank you so much for today.. >>> a couple has opened up the vaccine for everyone in mississippi. everyone 16 and up is eligible for a vaccine. with me is msnbc news contributor allison barber. talk to me about what you're seeing down there in mississippi. it's a big thing to open it up to everybody. what do the lines look like? >> there is going to be very bad weather this afternoon, so because of that a lot of mass vaccination sites have closed. but inside mississippi medical center, they're still vaccinating people and we're seeing young people show up to get vaccinated. we have jimmy here with us. he is 16 years old and he is actually going to let us watch him get his vaccine. he is getting his first dose of the pfizer vaccine. in mississippi anyone over the age of 16 can now get vaccinated if they want to. there goes the poke there. for 16 and 17-year-olds, it's the pfizer vaccine. for 18 and up, it's whichever one you want. jimmy is the only teen we've heard from this this state who say they are excited to

peter hotez, he is co-director for the center of vaccine development at texas children's hospital.new book "preventing the next pandemic: vaccine diplomacy in a time of anti-science." dr. hotez, so good to have you on. i wonder as you look at the data, do you share the cdc director's concerns that another surge is coming? >> yeah, absolutely. and, jim, the reason is because we're seeing a pretty sharp increase. we were down as low around 50, 55,000 new confirmed cases a day, and now we're heading back up to 70,000 new cases a day. it not happening evenly across the country, which is the pattern it always been. it's accelerating in the northeast. it's accelerating in michigan and the upper midwest. and there is some link of the highly contagious b.1.1.7 variant which we know is more transm transmissible and is higher morbidity, mortality. and jim, the other piece to this is we're starting to see a lot of young people get sick. even though we've done a good job of vaccinating older americans over the age of 65, more than half have been vaccinated, we're seeing a lot of young people g

peter hotez with texas children's hospital. author of the new book, preventing the next pandemic. you're in the middle of it. you are in texas, dr. hotez. how do you feel about the lifting of the mask mandate. >> yeah, like dr. walensky said and others, it's too soon. the reason is, we're only now beginning to start vaccinating the american people. and texas has fallen behind, because we lost a week because of the power grid collapse. we only have about 13% of the population that's received one dose of the vaccine. so we have a long ways to go. if we could hold off another month or two months, even, and really move towards fully vaccinating the people of texas, that's going to be a game changer. because now we're actually seeing slowing of virus transmission, asymptomatic transmission from studies from israel last week published in the "new england journal of medicine." there's a lot of good news ahead. we are going to be able to vaccinate our way out of this pandemic, towards the summer and fall. this is not a time for people

of the chinese to do this as well. >> enlightened self-interest we'll see if that will take hold peter hotez from baylor, dr. hotez, as always, thank you, sir. >>> next, republican matt gaetz, part of a sex trafficking investigation, that the congressman is claiming is somehow part of a multi-million dollar extortion plot. all of this is what apparently happened overnight we'll have more after the break. ♪ ♪ smooth driving pays off. saving is easy when you're in good hands. allstate. click or call for a quote today. ♪ for decades, most bladder leak pads were similar. allstate. until always discreet changed that. by inventing a revolutionary pad, that's incredibly thin. because it protects differently. with two rapiddry layers that overlap, where you need it most. for strong protection, that's always discreet. it's time to question your protection. it's time for always discreet. - [narrator] at southern new hampshire university, we're committed to making college more accessible by making it more affordable, that's why we're keeping our tuition the same through the year 2021. - i knew snhu was

peter hotez, thank you so much for coming on. glad you were able to spend some time with your family this weekend. >> thanks so much, pamela. appreciate it. >>> and stay with us, dr. hotez isn't the only one who's had a long awaited reunion with family. these sisters finally got to see each other after a more than a year apart to get their covid vaccine. we have got their story later in our. >>> plus we're following breaking news. a state department spokesperson tells me tonight that russia is deliberately undermining confidence in america's coronavirus vaccines. >>> also tonight -- pope francis gets a heroes welcome from christians in an iraqi town devastated by isis just a few years ago. >> but first house majority whip jim clyburn is standing by. it's 56 years since bloody sunday but the fight for voting rights is as fresh as ever today. we'll be right back. order our new pepperoni and four cheese flatbread pizzas for delivery or pickup today. panera. ♪ ♪ ♪like an echo in the forest♪ [singing in korean] ♪another day will retur

peter hotez, let's hang on until summer. thanks for being here. >>> up next, banished.mlin critic alexei navalny has been moved from his jail in moscow. but where? is now a good time for a flare-up? enough, crohn's! for adults with moderate to severe crohn's or ulcerative colitis... stelara® can provide relief and is the only approved medication to reduce inflammation on and below the surface of the intestine in uc. you, getting on that flight? back off, uc! stelara® may increase your risk of infections, some serious, and cancer. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you have an infection... flu-like symptoms, sores, new skin growths, have had cancer, or if you need a vaccine. pres, a rare, potentially fatal brain condition, may be possible. some serious allergic reactions and lung inflammation can occur. lasting remission can start with stelara®. if you've been financially impacted by covid-19, janssen may be able to help. did you know that 70% of the soils if you've been financially impacted by covid-19, on your clothes are invisible? under u.v. lig

peter hotez, the co-director of the center for vaccine development at texas children's hospital.'ll start where lindsey left off. should colleges require students at this point to be vaccinated if they want to attend in-person classes this fall? >> yes, and the answer is absolutely yes. here's the reason. one of the things we learned in this pandemic in the united states is 530,000 covid confirmed cases among college and university students, an extraordinary number. colleges and universities have been among the epic centers of this pandemic and 100 deaths and a lot of those among staff and more than any other group, staff and faculty. so this is a public health urgency. and we have precedent for this. my youngest son went off to college. he to show proof of his men nink coggal vaccinations. when we bring students together with highly contagious respiratory infections that can spread rampantly, and this is why we're doing it. >> and we're talking about students. pfizer is conducting trials now with children 5 to 11. can we return to a country if kids are not vaccinated? how does t

peter hotez predicted variants would become problematic. >> the reason i said that was because of thevariant and so now we're in a race, a race to see if we can vaccinate ahead of the b117 variant before it is reached through the country. >> reporter: who is winning this race at the moment? the vaccine? or the virus? >> well, i think we're neck and neck at this point. >> reporter: and tonight the eupean uon's drug regulator says the astrazeneca vaccine is safe and effective after more than a dozen countries stopped using it over fears of blood clot, it still needs authorization in the u.s. today the white house saying it would send millions of doses to mexico and canada saying it was crucial to ending the pandemic. even with the increasing number of vaccinations, health officials are still urging the public to wear masks, that lead public to wear masks, that led to a contentious exchange on capitol hill today between dr. anthony fauci and senator rand paul. >> you want to get rid of vaccine hesitancy, wear their mask after they get their vaccine. >> let me state for the record that ma

peter hotez, the co-director of the center for vaccine development at texas children's hospital. dr. hotez, you were in texas. what is your reaction to the governor completely easing these restrictions saying the pandemic is over, we're back to normal? >> yeah, this is definitely not the time to be doing this, stephanie. you know, we're still at a pretty high level, even though we've started to decline from the highest level that we've been, but we know the variants are coming and particularly the b.1.1.7 variant from the united kingdom which we've heard from the cdc director a couple of days ago say is starting to accelerate now, and we know from the studies in the united kingdom that that variant is more transmissible, more contagious than what we've seen in the past and now they're putting up data saying it's more lethal, although that hasn't been peer reviewed, looking at the data it's pretty compelling. so we are all anticipating another major wave. the point is now that the vaccines are here, now that they're coming, we're just starting now to get into our groove in terms o

peter hotez from the baylor college of medicine. dr. hotez, nice to see you, as always. so there are lockdown protests in europe and vaccine hesitancy here. are you concerned that this pandemic will never end? >> well, i think it has the potential to end, at least through vaccinations, if we can really ramp up the level of coverage. and we have different sets of barriers in the united states versus globally. in the u.s., we're now learning that we've got a substantial segment of the u.s. population refusing vaccines. this was several new polls showing that white republicans, that's how they describe it, are refusing vaccines in large numbers. and we know the origins of this. this has been a building situation of rising anti-science among the republican party that's become mainstream. so we're going to have to try to defeat that. because the good news is, we have the vaccines now in terms of supplies from moderna, from pfizer, from j&j and soon we'll have the novavax vaccine in addition to astrazeneca. and we know this is not only stopping symptomatic illness but asymptom

peter hotez.e is the co-director of the center for vaccine development at texas children's hospital, and author of the new book "preventing the next pandemic -- vaccine diplomacy in a time of anti-science." dr. hotez, thanks so much. let's start off with this deal between merck and j&j. these are two rival pharmaceutical companies. what is it going to mean to have the two of them working together to ramp up production of this vaccine? >> yeah, no, it's totally brilliant. and i say that because the two companies globally that have more clout, more heft, more production capacity for making vaccines among the multinationals is gsk, glaxo smith kind and merck & company. by linking j&j with merck & company, we're going to probably be able to guarantee that we're going to be able to meet the demands of the american people in terms of supplying the vaccine. they have the ability to scale up what we call the drug substance, the actual vaccine substance and the fill and finish. and i think we need their he

peter hotez. dr.e that astrazeneca continues to have these issues on messaging. when messaging is so critically important when you're trying to get people to take your vaccine. >> yeah. you're absolutely right, katy. it doesn't take much to derail public confidence in a vaccine. as dr. fauci said, there are a lot of unforced errors here. what happened is still a bit of a mystery to me. the company sent out information yesterday that sounded really promising. high levels of efficacy both against symptomatic illness and 100 3ers 6th aepbs against serious illness and death. that was exciting. and the monitoring board contacts allergy and infectious diseases. hold on. they didn't include the updated information. they didn't complete all the analyses we requested. and that's really unusual to hear a public display of disagreement like that. you would think that the two groups would have worked it out internally. if there are any differences you take care of that before you rush to send out press releases.

peter hotez. also joining me the author of "which country has the best health care." let's talk about this news on the vaccine front. dr. hotez these numbers out of a study in israel are pretty incredible. >> we have some idea about this because there is a paper published in the new england journal of medicine. and it shows that two doses of the vaccine gives an extraordinarily high level of protection. to give you a perspective that is probably our best vaccine that we have. the two doses of the measles vaccine. and it is shedding from the nose and mouth, but it is also halting asymptomatic infection as well. i think we'll see similar findings from some of the other operation warp speed vaccines. so the good news is if we can fully vaccinate the people we can potentially halt a symptomatic transmission. that is here in texas, florida, and georgia. so a lot of excitement ahead as we move into the summer and get american people fully vaccinated. it is just a matter of how we navigate the next few weeks because of this rise of the u.k. variant before we can get everyone

joining us now, peter hotez. let's start with the breaking news this morning. here's the efficacy. 79%, they found, effective against symptomatic illness and 100% against severe illness and hospitalization. that's the bottom line, right? so when could americans start getting this shot? >> yeah. no, it's really good news, alisyn. i'm pretty confident that astrazeneca will apply for emergency use authorization, so we'll have that vaccine released to the american public. so that will be the fourth vaccine we'll have. it's also good news for another reason. if you remember over the last couple of weeks, the european countries, germany, france, did a lot to discredit or try suspending its use which went against the regulatory agency, what the european union wanted to do. it caused a lot of collateral damage because this is one f our workhorse vaccines that we're expecting for aftrica and latin america. >> first of all, dr. hotez, every time i see you with those headphones, i think you're cutting an album, and i'm all in. i would buy that album in a heartbeat. >>> se

peter hotez, the dean at the university of tropical medicine.we're seeing not just from republicans but leaders, this is really among white republicans is a major concern. how much do you think it would change things if former president trump came out and said i got the shot, it's safe, do your part? >> yeah, absolutely it would be a game-changer. and here's why. i mean this is an evolving story that we've seen since 2015, erica. what happened was -- the backstory is the anti-vaccine movement to re-energize found a way to link itself to political extremism on the right to the tea party and to the far right component of the republican party. it started in orange county, california, but quickly moved to texas and oklahoma where it really amplified. and political action committees starting to form around the anti-vaccine movement. they started going after me because i'm a vaccine scientist in texas, and i have a daughter who has autism and have been rioting about why the vaccine does not cause autism. and in 2020 it piled on the protests against ma

peter hotez joins us next. i'm greg, i'm 68 years old.nestly feel that that's my calling-- to give back to younger people. i think most adults will start realizing that they don't recall things as quickly as they used to or they don't remember things as vividly as they once did. i've been taking prevagen for about three years now. people say to me periodically, "man, you've got a memory like an elephant." it's really, really helped me tremendously. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. with relapsing forms of ms, there's a lot to deal with. not just unpredictable relapses. all these other things too. who needs that kind of drama? kesimpta is a once-monthly at-home injection that may help you put this rms drama in its place. kesimpta was proven superior at reducing the rate of relapses, active lesions and slowing disability progression versus aubagio. don't take kesimpta if you have hepatitis b, and tell your doctor if you have had it, as it could come back. kesimpta can cause serious side effects, including infections. while no cases of

peter hotez is with us. tell us what you make of this announcement from pfizer just now that between 12 and 15 years -- i know it's a smatter sample than you would like -- but it's effective. >> yes. a few things. 1,200 to 1,500 in the pla sago group, similar in the vaccinated group. 1 100% efficacy. it's a smaller study, but it's enough to warrant moving forward. also the virus is moving antibody titers. i think it's likely a green light to move forward, move down in terms of vaccinating experts 12 to 15. i'm guessing it will go through t the verpac committee. they'll go back to the verpac committee. the bottom line is by the fall, i think there's a good possibility we'll be vaccinating teenagers 12 and up. and for middle schools, junior high schools, high schools, it's really good news in the united states for both teachers and staff. we'll have teachers and staff vaccinated. we'll have students vaccinated in those middle schools and high schools. >> what you're saying is 100% efficacy is astounding even a

peter hotez. author of the new book "preventing the next pandemic vaccine diplomacy at a time of anti science." also with us is a paid pediatri surgeon. governor abbott saying state mandates are no longer needed. do you agree? >> we still need those mandates, anderson. we've got some rough sledding ahead of us. we heard from the cdc director yesterday that the new variants, especially the one from the united kingdom b 117 is accelerating. we know what that means.117 is accelerating. we know what that means. we'll see increased tran mission again and higher mortality rates. the data coming out of the u.k. they put up on the government website is pretty compelling. we're expecting a fourth surge, unfortunately, in the state, and our level of vaccination is among the lowest in the country. we had a big set back a couple of weeks ago because of that terrible storm and the collapse of the power grid system. so we're behind. so i think it would be really important before we do any kind of lifting of res

peter hotez at baylor college of medicine in houston. doctor, you are there in texas and spring break is coming up. galveston island, south padre island will be popping and the governor has now said restaurants open, bars 100%. let's just start here and remind people what the governor said he learned back in june of 2020 when he allowed bars to reopen then. and then we'll look forward. here is governor greg abbott. >> if i could go back and redo anything, it probably would have been to slow down the opening of bars. now seeing in the aftermath of how quickly the coronavirus spread in the bar setting. and a bar doesn't work in a pandemic. people go to bars to get close and drink and socialize and that stokes the spread. and so sure, in hindsight, it may have been better to have slowed the opening of the bar setting. >> dr. hotez, good news on vaccines, but is that enough to prevent what we saw in the summer in texas? >> well, the problem right now is we still didn't have a nearly sufficient percentage of the u.s. population vaccinated. on

peter hotez, thank you for joining us. >> thanks for having me. >> turning now to the white house facingrowing pressure over the worsening situation at the southern border where almost 5,000 migrant children are being held. the cnn chief national affairs correspondent jeff zeleny has the very latest. jeff, i mean, this is widely seen as a humanitarian crisis, but the white house so far will still not use that word. >> well, pamela, for weeks, you're right, the white house has declined to call this an immigration cries, but semantics aside the numbers are growing and the problem is getting even worse. we're learning tonight that the border patrol says they have already detained more migrant children this month than all of last month alone, this is come is a the government is scrambling to find adequate housing and the white house is still urging these migrants to not come to the u.s. >>> a new look tonight inside a crowded detention shelter at the u.s. border where these images show children and families waiting as they try to seek asylum from central america. five pictures released by de

peter hotez on why we may soon hit an anti-vaxxer problem

peter hotez, the dean of the national school of tropical medicine at baylor college of medicine. he is the author of a book, "preventing the next pandemic." tell us more about this milestone on the vaccine front? i would imagine the president will take the victory lap. >> reporter: it wouldn't be surprising. this is what we are hearing, that the president is poised to reach that goal that he laid out, 100 million doses in the arms of people within 100 days. we are on his 58th day. he will reach that goal as early as today, possibly tomorrow. think are vaccinated 2 to 2.5 million people every day. we know that president biden is going to make remarks later on this afternoon where he is going to talk about the progress that has been made on vaccines. officials won't say explicitly what he will say. the bottom line though, craig, he will talk about the fact that they are on pace to exceed that initial benchmark that they laid out. it's worth noting that you have some of the president's critics saying, look, this was always an attainable goal given the pace of vaccinations. the quest

peter hotez at baylor, really appreciate having you on and your expertise is much appreciated. you very much, chuck. >> stay safe. >>> up next, we're going to head to minneapolis in the latest for the trial of former police officer derek chauvin. network at no extra cost. and plans to mix and match, so you only pay for what you need. the plan is so reasonable, they can stay on for the rest of their lives. aww... and on top of that, nobody gives you more entertainment you love like disney+, hulu and espn+ on select unlimited plans. you even get one of our best 5g phones on us when you buy one. and it all starts at just $35. only from verizon. - [narrator] at southern new hampshire university, we're committed to making college more accessible by making it more affordable, that's why we're keeping our tuition the same through the year 2021. - i knew snhu was the place for me when i saw how affordable it was. i ran to my husband with my computer and i said, "look, we can do this." - [narrator] take advantage of some of the lowest online tuition rates in the nation. find your degree

peter hotez with texas children's hospital. thank you for being with us. look, what a year it's been since sanjay came on the show and said this is a pandemic. and this morning we are dealing with these new cdc guidelines telling vaccinated people it's safe to go hang out indoors with other vaccinated people. telling vaccinated grandparents it's safe enough to go visit your unvaccinated grandchildren. what's your take on the cdc guidelines, the good, the bad and the ugly. >> i think, john, they're cautious and cautious for a good reason because we still don't have all of the information we need to go any further at this point. so, i think it's really important to stress this is why the cdc is calling them interim guidelines. they're interim because we don't know where we're heading with the b.1.1.7 variant in the uk. there's still quite a lot of transmission going on in the united states number one. number two, we don't know the full performance features of these vaccines in terms of interrupting asymptomatic transmission. the numbers and data coming out o

peter hotez now. co-director at texas children's hospital doctor, as always, thank you how concerned are you about this uptick in cases in the country should americans be worried in any way about the possibility of another shutdown at some point like we're seeing in european nations? >> well, we are seeing a pretty sharp increase in states like michigan, new york, new jersey, rhode island exactly what the basis of it is we don't know. we were concerned it could be the rise of the b.1.1.7 variant that we've been saying is going to cause an uptick and it may finally now be happening this is what we're looking at right now. the key now is to vaccinate ahead of variants. as fast as we can. >> it got heated on the hill senator rand paul and dr. fauci had a bit of a face-off over the need of masks and vaccinations >> you've been vaccinated and you parade around in two masks for show. >> no. let me just state for the record that masks are not theater masks are protective >> it's really pretty incredible what

peter hotez. >> do you agree with this recommendation? >> yes, because it was done

peter hotez the codirector for vaccine development at texas children's hospital and author of new bookpandemic." . great to see you, dr. hotez. how can we completely lose the progress we've made if as you see on the side of your screen 77 million americans virtually have been vaccinated. they are protected. so even if the variants are coming in, how would we completely lose all the progress we've made thus far? >> well, thanks, alisyn. the simple answer is only about 15% of eligible americans have been vaccinated with a single dose. so this is still moving much slower than we really need to go. we need to accelerate our vaccination program to 3 million americans a day and unfortunately we don't have the vaccine supply yet in order to do that. so that's problem number one. problem two is the fact that you might say, okay, well, it's been going down now and plateauing at a pretty high level but the thing that's really scaring everyone, including myself, is the fact that we have this b.1.1.7 variant and we've seen how that variant behaves, that variant of concern. it popped up in england

peter hotez now, co-director for the center for vaccine development at texas children's hospital good to see you again. we've reviewed the pfizer report here, and the numbers really look fantastic what of this, kids being vaccinated before next school year is that realistic? >> yeah, i think it is i mean, the study is not that big. it's about 1,200 adolescents, 12 through 15 in the vaccination group and a similar number in the placebo group, and what it showed is there were 18 cases of covid in the placebo group and zero in the vaccinated group that's how you got to the 100% i would guess as you get to much larger studies, it will probably come down a little bit it will probably be similar to the very high level of protection that we see in adults so the question is where do we go from here i think there's a few reason the vaccinated adolescents, we are seeing adolescents going into pediatric intensive care units they are getting sick, especially those with underlying risk factors as you pointed out, if we're going to interrupt virus transmission, we have to get to 80, 85% of the popu

peter hotez. codirector of the center for vaccine development at texas children's hospital.octor, great to see you again it is so uneven. in some places where you are eligible to get the shot it is no problem at all, in others it is a nightmare there's all of this confusion over different and changing rules. isn't there a better and simpler way to do this >> yes, there absolutely is, shepard. you know, unfortunately the way this is rolling out we created fairly complicated set of rules, these 1a, 1b, 1c criteria which were complicated enough to begin with because there was ambiguity over what it meant to be in a certain category then you had the fact each state was different and in some cases even different between counties or local jurisdictions the truth is the u.s. never really created an adequate infrastructure for delivering adult immunizations. you know, we don't really have a health system in the sense singapore or israel does in my moments of frustration i say we have amazon pharmacy, that's our health system the pharmacy chains are doing a good job, i think, as best

peter hotez, who is developing his own vaccine down in texas at baylor said the goal should be getting to 3 million doses per day. we did 2.4 million on sunday. we are not that far off. i don't know about you, but this is like the opposite of grimley watching new cases take up and outbreaks spread. now we are looking at a chart and numbers that are going in the right direction that you want them to go, up, up, up, keep going. so much of the news around covid is finally what we have been waiting for. we have now added a third vaccine. there is also a massive rescue bill on the horizon. it's already pass the house. the senate is taking it up this weeks. it has checks for millions of people, actions to alleviate the crush of the virus and, crucially, more money to help speed up that same vaccination process. also, we now have federally managed vaccination centers for the first time. we are beginning to hear the success stories on social media and folks i talked to on twitter. one described his experience, quote, i got vaccinated at the fema site in brooklyn today and one thing i didn't ex

peter hotez, baylor college of medicine in houston. make of governor abbott's claim that the white house is the one to be mad at because they are, he says, releasing covid-positive immigrants in texas and sending them on buses to other states? >> yeah, i think, erin, the role of immigrants in this is small, at most. it's extremely modest. as far as i know, the united kingdom is not coming from our southern border. this is the problem. the problem is the b.1.1.7. variant that's now accelerating and there is pretty good evidence that b.1.1.7. variant is more transmissible than what we've seen before and the u.k. government has put up pretty compelling evidence, not peer reviewed, but compelling evidence on their website that it's more lethal. and now this is starting to accelerate in florida. we've got up to 10% or more of the virus isolates in florida, b.1.1.7. and the health department saying it is going up in houston, waste water as well. so it's here in texas. and we've got to take steps and get ready for it. and unfortunately, we do

peter hotez is the co-director of the center for vaccine development at texas children's hospital.ccine sentiments already existed on the fringes of both the democratic and republican parties. but, in recent years, this movement has resonated most with conservatives who are skeptical of the governmt. >> it initially began in orange county, california, in response to a measles epidemic there. the california legislature closed vaccine exetions and that kind of ignited this first politicization. but it was really in texas where it found a home to amplify. and now we have over 72,000 kids in texas denied access to their vaccinations. >> alcindor: and he says this movement was thrust into the national spotlight when then-candidate donald trump spread a well-known falsehood about vaccines. >> just the other day, two years old, 2.5 years old, a child, a beautiful child, went to have the vaccine, and came back, and a week later got a tremendous fever, got very, very sick, now is autistic. >> we've consistently underestimated how powerful this is and the deadly consequences that it's had fo

i heard peter hotez talking about it last hour. they are being cautious. a lot of people are coming on saying, they're being overly cautious. why can't vaccinated people do more. we're purposefully underpromising, hoping to overdeliver. but two other things i think were really important. one is that you don't hear things as binary as you used to. can't do this, can do this. you're going to start hearing things framed low risk, medium risk, high risk, giving people little more choice. second thing is that the recommendations that we hear are going to be directly tied to the percent of the country that is vaccinated. so 10% roughly of the country fully vaccinated right now. 2 million roughly, 2.5 million per day will be vaccinated. so you'll get to 20% of the country within the next few weeks, 30% by the end of march. my point is each time that happens you're going to hear a loosening of the recommendations coming from the cdc. and by the way, the recommendations again and andy made this point from the cdc, those were cdc recommendations. those weren't cdc r

peter hotez, thank you very, very much, we appreciate your insight.-science movement is escalating. some strong warnings in that interview there. anna palpalmer, thank you as we. it's great to have you on the show. still ahead on "morning joe," the latest on the aftermath of the capitol hill riot, as president trump's former chief of staff, mick mulvaney rejects trump's claim that the insurrectionists posed zero threat at all. >> and the debate on afghanistan once again bubbling to the surface. we'll be talking to ed luce, peter baker, jonathan lemire and others about that ongoing debate and where the white house goes with it next. debate and where the white house goes with it next mes to finding and buying your dream home, we'll be there to make it happen. we'll be there when you want better rates too. or to get money for retirement. we'll be there because we work only with veteran families like yours to help you get the most life out of a home for the life of your family it's a thirteen-hour flight, that's not a weekend trip. fifteen minutes until w

peter hotez, codrerk of texas children's center for vaccine development and founding dean of nationalropical medicine at baylor. let's start with the comments from dr. redfield. where do you stand on this theory? >> it hasn't really been proven either way. my position is that we don't necessarily need to invoke that it came out of a laboratory accident. we know that sars in 2003, the original severe pandemic coronavirus, came out of southern china and then went to toronto. and china's the perfect mixing bowl for zoonotic animal horses and coronaviruses circumstance lat in bats across the face of china and no obvious reason to invoke an artificial cause or a coming from a laboratory accident. having said that, there's no strong evidence against it so possibly dr. redfield has evidence that's not in the public domain but from the public evidence i don't see a strong case to be made. >> there's already so much misinformation and pair naya i wonder if you have seen with the dovetailing of the stop the steal movement with anti-vaxxer crowd, one distrustful of the government. >> absolutely.