Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, an architect of Obamacare and special adviser to the director-general of the World Health Organization, told MSNBC’s The Last Word that the United States cannot return to normal until a Chinese coronavirus vaccine is available, which he speculated could take between 12-18 months.
A transcript is as follows:
‘Severe’ Pentagon lockdown sparks emergency response as hazmat teams sweep area
WATCH: Trump DHS escalates pressure over migrant child warnings it says Biden ignored: ‘Move heaven and hell’
Gordie Howe bridge opening pushed back over unnamed ‘issues’ after Trump-Canada feud
Austin Metcalf’s dad expresses empathy for Karmelo Anthony as killer’s parents say ‘they did a number on us’
DOJ accuses Jamaican woman of committing marriage fraud and lying to boost disability benefits
WATCH: Philadelphia police release new video of two suspects in Penn State student’s fatal robbery
Breaking: Trump Says US Will Seize Iranian Territory and ‘Assume Total Control of Their Oil and Gas Markets’
Outrageous: Black Advocates Move to Have Austin Metcalf’s Brother Arrested, Charged as Accessory to Murder
Chip Roy fields proposal to block pay and power for longtime lawmakers
Second Amendment fights grow across several states over 3D-printed gun laws
DEADLY PHOTO: We Now Know What Karmelo Anthony’s Knife Looked Like, and It Was No Quaint Leatherman Multitool
LGBT People Surge Into Seattle from Republican States, Demand More Public Resources
Spencer Pratt’s Los Angeles mayor run ends in defeat, but the spotlight stays on
Toledo police name suspect Ka Nye Taylor in festival shooting that injured 12, hunt second gunman
Prosecutors won’t seek death penalty in Minnesota Democrat’s assassination
DR. EZEKIEL EMANUEL: No one is immune to the COVID-19 virus. It threatens all of us. But while we are all experiencing the same pandemic, we are not experiencing it in the same way. The first dividing line is whether you or someone you love has gotten sick. Many Americans have not yet seen firsthand what devastation a positive test can inflict. Another dividing line is whether you have a job that lets you stay at home, working as you juggle child care and video chats.
60 million Americans are still out there not sheltering in place and instead tirelessly working to keep everything going for the rest of us. You keep the electricity flowing and the internet running, food and groceries moving. You are putting your own health on the line to ensure the rest of us are living as normally as possible. And then there are the tens of millions of Americans who have lost jobs and businesses, or who fear that they’re just about to. Your anxiety about the virus is coupled with worry over having a paycheck, covering the mortgage, keeping the lights on, and buying food.
Realistically, COVID-19 will be here for the next 18 months or more. We will not be able to return to normalcy until we find a vaccine or effective medications. I know that’s dreadful news to hear. How are people supposed to find work if this goes on in some form for a year and a half? Is all that economic pain worth trying to stop COVID-19? The truth is we have no choice. If we prematurely end that physical distancing and the other measures keeping it at bay, deaths could skyrocket into the hundreds of thousands if not a million. We cannot return to normal until there’s a vaccine. Conferences, concerts, sporting events, religious services, dinner in a restaurant, none of that will resume until we find a vaccine, a treatment, or a cure.
Story cited here.
