The intensive care unit and lung doctor, Dr. Vin Gupta, criticized the Republican governors of Arizona, Florida and Texas for what he said was a premature reopening, especially since new options are needed across the country.
“What the governors of Arizona, Florida and Texas are doing is not good public policy,” Gupta said. “It just doesn’t make sense scientifically … There’s a deep concern here, especially in these populated states with generally older populations living in these states, that the variants are already taking root there.”
The US reports an average of 58,618 new cases of Covid daily, up 6.7% in the last week, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. It is the largest weekly increase since mid-January. The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, issued a stern warning on Friday.
“I am deeply concerned about this trajectory,” Walensky said. “We have seen cases and hospitalizations move from historical declines, to stagnation, to increases. We know from previous increases that if we don’t control things now, there is real potential for the epidemic curve to grow again.”
Gupta, an NBC contributor, warned that early reopening could generate even new vaccine-resistant Covid variants.
“We’re going to create a variant that could get rid of any kind of immunity that the vaccine will give … that’s the big concern here,” Gupta told CNBC’s “The News with Shepard Smith.”
“That’s why we really need governments to stay vigilant, to preach vigilance, to have consistent public policies in all 50 states for the next few months until everyone gets a vaccine,” he said. “This will be the key piece here, otherwise we may not be normal on July 4.”
Gupta said the United States is in a “race against time” to vaccinate as many people as possible.
The White House announced on Friday a record 3.4 million vaccines administered across the country. That number could increase as Johnson & Johnson prepares to deliver 11 million doses of a single vaccine next week.
Representatives of the governors of Arizona, Texas and Florida were not immediately available for comment.