all right, professor william schaffner at vanderbilt university medical center in nashville. thank you very much for your insights. europe is also contending with record infections to start the new year. her in germany, health officials are warning that the truce scale of the crisis is not yet known because of a lag, and testing and reporting of cases over the holiday period. while army cra, numbers have exploded across europe, germany has buck the trend here. infection numbers have remained relatively low over the past few weeks, but that com may be deceptive. cases have been under reported over the holiday period and many think a steep rise in the infection rate is inevitable. and for the 1st time in weeks, cases have actually started to go up. but there is a marked shift in where the virus is heating hardest, where it's just a few weeks ago, the south eastern region. so the biggest number of infections. now it's northwestern germany that is seeing a spike in cases. this is likely due to the spread of army crone cases from neighboring netherlands and denmark that have seen

all right, professor william schaffner at vanderbilt university medical center in nashville. thank you very much for your insights. thank you. staying in the united states where snow storms are playing havoc with road and train travel closed or delayed planes have been grounded, and schools are closed in virginia, an interstate highway was brought with standstill overnight with hundreds of motorists stranded in their cars. many are still stock and they say they're running out of food. water and fuel. 100 stuck in both directions. a snowstorm coupled with a traffic accident shot down a stretch of 15 years. i 95. the u. s. east coast may north south highway, leaving motorists stranded for a freezing night. among them, a senator on his way to the capital. it was, it was nerve wracking overnight and i'll tell you. i had 2 things. i had a heavy coat and i also had a full tank of gas. and the problem is a lot of people when you're stuck that long between, you know, 5 miles from an interchange and traffic is that move and folks are running out of gas. motorists have been helping eac

or i, professor william schaffner at vanderbilt university medical center in nashville. thank you very much for your insights. let's take a look now at some other stories making news around the world. a suspect has appeared in court over the fire that badly damaged the south african parliament in cape town. the 49 year old faces 2 counts of arson. prosecutors also alleged he had an explosive device with him when he broke into the parliament building. the suspects lawyer says he's pleading not guilty. a us judge says that it says he will decide soon whether to dismiss a civil sex assault case against the britons. prince andrew. the prince's lawyers says he is protected by a 2009 settlement between his accuser, virginia, defray, and sex offender. jeffrey epstein, jeffrey says prince andrew sexually assaulted her when she was 17. palestinian prisoner has ended his nearly 5 month hunger strike after israeli authorities agreed to release him next month. he sham abu ha watches the family said he had achieved a victory for all palestinians. he began his hunger strike in septemb

he is professor of preventive medicine at the department of health policy at vanderbilt university medical center in nashville. professor, are you dismayed by the low level of vaccination now that on a crown is spreading? oh, neck of i am absolutely dismayed by the low level of vaccination. no, we have been promoting vaccination for months now, but there is a contingent of adults that are still hesitant. skeptic and i will say down, right, stubborn about not receiving the vaccine. and these are frequently also people who are not bringing their children forward to be vaccinated. and in addition to that, we of course have people who have had 2 doses of the m r in a vaccine that still need their booster for optimal protection. so we have an enormous amount of vaccination work to do here in the united states. and do think that perhaps some of the harsher measures are more rigorous measures that europe is applying. looking at austria, for instance, where there's a vaccine mandate are needed or even possible in the united states. the question is possible, right? you can have a public policy, but it has

william schaffner is with medical university -- vanderbilt university medical center. thank you for giving us your time. guest: good morning, good to be with you. happy new year. host: when it comes to the omicron variant, we hear a lot of things daily. as far as your medical perspective, where arbery -- are we as a country and ready you see is going? guest:

william schaffner is with medical university -- vanderbilt university medical center. thank you for giving us your time. guest: good morning, good to be with you. happy new year. host: when it comes to the omicron variant, we hear a lot of things daily. as far as your medical perspective, where arbery -- are we as a country and ready you see is going? guest: i think we are in a transition period. we are still going to have a lot of new cases because we have had all of this holiday travel and get together. the virus was attending a lot of those events, there was spread and you will see the consequences of that in the next two or three weeks. that will happen. we are vaccinating more people, this omicron virus is spreading and together, they are going to produce some level of what we call population immunity or herd immunity. so my guarded optimism is that by the end of january, beginning of february, i think we may be able to get ahead, finally, of this virus. if there is no new variant that shows up on the scene. we have been here twice before, each time a new variant

jennifer andrews runs the blood bank at vanderbilt university medical center and treats kids with blood your hospital's blood supply? >> it's dire. >> o'donnell: and it means that a child who has leukemia may not get the transfusion that they need? >> that's correct, and, also, there's nothing else i can give them. there is no other alternative to blood. >> o'donnell: this is what her blood bank looked like pre- covid. this is what it often looks like now. >> i would urge your viewers to remember that they might need blood. nobody wakes up in the morning and plans on being the next trauma patient. so, this literally could affect you or your family members. >> o'donnell: the red cross tries to have a five-day supply of blood. in recent weeks, it's been down to less than one. what does it mean for dreylan when people give blood? >> it means he gets to feeling better a lot quicker and it means he can fight another day. >> o'donnell: you've really inspired me, so thank you. well, i was so inspired by dreylan that i'm going to give blood later this week, and i hope you will join me. we have

jennifer andrews runs the blood bank at vanderbilt university medical center and treats kids with bloodorders. how is your hospital's blood supply? >> it's dire. >> o'donnell: and it means that a child who has leukemia may not get the transfusion that they need? >> that's correct, and, also, there's nothing else i can give them. there is no other alternative to blood. >> o'donnell: this iwh h ooba l- th is what it often looks like now. >> i would urge your viewers to remember that they might need blood. nobody wakes up in the morning and plans on being the next trauma patient. so, this literally could affect you or your family members. >> o'donnell: the red cross tries to have a five-day supply of blood. in recent weeks, it's been down what does it mean for dreylan when people give blood? >> it means he gets to feeling better a lot quicker and it means he can fight another day. >> o'donnell: you've really inspired me, so thank you. well, i was so inspired by dreylan that i'm going to give blood later this week, and i hope you will join me. we have resources for donating blood on our web

vanderbilt university medical center says it's looking at unvaccinated children between the ages of 5.17. the study will examine how the pfizer shot affects children who are highly allergic to certain kinds of food and drug cent. other routine vaccines and other environmental triggers. also children who have had at least one severe reaction requiring an epi pen. >> still ahead, homeless encampments cleared out year. so fy stadium just a few weeks before the super bowl in just days before the niners game. there. caltrans says the cleanup was done because of safety issues, but not everybody agrees. >> also cracking down on cheaters. one social media site is stopping people from spoiling the fun for users of a new word game. >> and used an app to transfer some cash or have you been play your head at the stock market from your phone? you may be getting a pay out. find out if you're eligible to. it's part of a multimillion dollar lawsuit. >> popular finance apps, you might want to check your email for a possible payout. notice the financial service known as plaid has settled a class action la

william schaffner is professor of infectious diseases at vanderbilt university medical center and alsor the cdc. dr. schaffner, good to see you. dr. gottlieb says if the fda moves forward with two doses, authorization could come as soon as early march. what do you think is more important? getting kids that baseline protection asap or waiting for more trial data on three doses? >> yeah, this reminds me of goldilocks and her oatmeal, right? the temperature had to be just right. we want that dose not too much, not too little, to be just right. and to be able to tell the public exactly what they are getting when they vaccinate their young children. and i think protection against hospitalization continues to be the big issue. and i think we'll need to give the fda and the companies enough time to get it just right. we don't want to rush into this. in the meantime, we have so many children, yet 5 years of age and older, children and adolescents who report is yet received their vaccine. i'm so glad we're interested in vaccinating the under 5s, but in the meantime, we still have a lot of vacci

william schaffner from vanderbilt university medical center.od to have you on. >> good to be with you, jim. >> let me ask you first as a doctor, what you think of what we're seeing in chicago. the fact is most school districts are going back to school. the mayor said you've got to go back. the surgeon general says with mitigation, masking, ventilation, et cetera, it's safe for kids to go back to school, especially with how many people are vaccinated. is it a mistake? >> i would think schools could open really at very, very low risk if everybody does everything. you can't just rely on one thing. the first is that every adult having anything to do with the school building should be vaccinated. the second thing is, we need to get, obviously, the students vaccinated. where are these parents? why haven't they brought children in for vaccination age 5 and up? they're all eligible. and then wearing masks, good ventilation, doing social distancing to the degree that you can, good hand hygiene and environmental sanitation. if you put each of those thing

william schaffner is with medical university -- vanderbilt university medical center.or giving us your time. guest: good morning, good to be with you. happy new year. host: when it comes to the omicron variant, we hear a lot of things daily. as far as your medical perspective, where arbery -- are we as a country and ready you see is going? guest: i think we are in a transition period. we are still going to have a lot of new cases because we have had all of this holiday travel and get together. the virus was attending a lot of those events, there was spread and you will see the consequences of that in the next two or three weeks. that will happen. we are vaccinating more people, this omicron virus is spreading and together, they are going to produce some level of what we call population immunity or herd immunity. so my guarded optimism is that by the end of january, beginning of february, i think we may be able to get ahead, finally, of this virus. if there is no new variant that shows up on the scene. we have been here twice before, each time a new variant has shown up