 So in Vermont, we have just been given the news that we can if we're vaccinated the inside and outside spaces without masks, which has been met with much jubilation and even though a large percentage of the people in the state have been vaccinated. There are still people that are afraid and concerned about getting the vaccination and I wonder what you would say to encourage them to go ahead and get the vaccination. Right, you know, one of the things I know is that fear that the antidote to fear is information. So I would encourage them to seek out sources that can give them the best information possible. So if they go to fight infectious disease.org can find a plethora of information because what we know is that this pandemic is not over. Now Vermont, you guys have done a fantastic job. I mean your case counselor low your your positivity rate I think it's like 1% the best in the entire nation which is fantastic. But what we do know is that this pandemic is not over. And one thing COVID-19 has shown us is that we have to be concerned about what happens globally because what happens globally can literally impact what happens on our street level. And at this stage we're still having the United States 30,000 cases of COVID-19 being diagnosed today. We're still unfortunately still bearing about 500 people a day. And the longer this virus is allowed to pass from person to person. We know that the chances of having mutant strains develop is there, which can weaken our overall ability to fight this thing off even with our vaccines. Now currently our vaccines are holding up. They're doing a great job against the Indian variant, South African variant, the Brazilian variant, UK variant. But we know that if we allow this to continue that might be tested. And so the way that we get back to normalcy that we really can't open up our nation or schools getting back to seeing family and friends is reaching that level of her immunity. And yeah, and outsmarting and outpacing the virus. Well, what about the people that are worried about the side effects of the vaccine? Right. What we know at this point is literally 40% of the United States has been fully vaccinated, which means that's literally 130 million Americans. And then you take that and you multiply by factors when we think about the global population of persons. The safety profile of this vaccine has been tremendous. But when you think about comparing again risk benefit of do I get vaccinated or do I risk getting COVID-19 infection? What we know is that COVID-19 infections on all fronts are more dangerous for your body. It's not only in terms of death. And I think we need to really highlight the fact that people get kind of obsessed with the death count and say, oh, less people are dying. But what we know is that people who survived COVID-19, the people in my ICU who we now given long transplants, they aren't included in that number of people who died, right? They are included in the number of people who survived, but their lives are forever changed for those young people that are now suffering strokes because of COVID-19 infections. They've lived, but their life is forever changed. We see that even children as young as elementary school age, their studies that are showing that 30% of them who've had COVID-19 are having long, holler symptoms of where they're having difficulty breathing down. They have been learning disabilities because they have difficulty concentrating. We call it brain fog. Those people who've lost their taste and smell, that means the virus literally impacted their brain cells. And what does that do to the longevity of life? So it's not only the consequence of dying we have to consider. It's the collateral damage that's left in the wake of COVID-19 infection. Do you see that young children are going to be vaccinated? I know that we're starting now with the 12-year-olds, but are we going to be going younger and younger to get the whole population covered? Yes, we're starting to literally consider with these vaccination trials. By September, we're hoping to have some results that we can go down as young as two years old and up to really protect our kids. And again, it's because of this notion that we know that death is not the only consequence. Yes, fortunately, most of our children have made it through this pandemic and not lost their lives. Although we do know that we bury weak old babies related to COVID-19, which is completely unfortunate. But we know that our children, they still get infected, right? And again, what does that inflammatory process do when we have this inflamed heart or these inflamed lungs? What does that do to the longevity of their lives? When we're seeing these signs and symptoms of an elementary school aged kid, will their bodies perform on the level of when they're 30 years old, will their bodies resemble that of a 60 or 70 year old person? We don't know. And to put them at risk of having that scarring of their brains because they lost taste and smell, will that make them be more prone to Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease when they're 40 years old instead of 60 or 70 years old? It's not worth the risk, especially when we can just vaccinate them. Yeah, it seems like there will be a very long tail on this pandemic, even though, you know, many people are happy and relieved that they're vaccinated and it's over, but clearly it's not. Right. I mean, and the tail is not only in terms of health crisis. We know it's also cause of financial devastation, right? And when we're looking at the population of persons that are currently hospitalized, for instance, currently nationwide, 36% of all hospital admissions, whether that's heart attack strokes or COVID or pregnancy, right? 36% are COVID patients less than 50 years old. And think about that demographic of persons. Those are parents with young kids still at home, depending on them to go to work to provide a house for them to live in. And I say to that demographic of persons, you don't have to get sick to the point of hospitalization or needing a ventilator or being in my ICU or dying from COVID-19 because we have a vaccine from you now that can literally prevent those severe forms of COVID-19 infection. So really consider it. If you're weighing your risk-benefit ratio, go to fightinfectionsdisease.org. There's a wealth of information there for you to truly go through the data and see what's the best options for not only me, but my entire family. And Dr. Hilton, what do you see as the implications of places like India or other parts of the world where the pandemic is clearly raging? What are the implications in the United States? Oh, it's huge. What we know, I think this pandemic has shown us just how tightly knit we are as a global community. What happens in India has now found its way onto our shores. And that's not only again in terms of health, but also economic stability. We can look back in history and go back to 1918 and how the 1918 pandemic, which ended in 1920, how did that influence the Great Depression that started in 1929? The time spacing of that is important to recognize. And the same thing has to potentially happen with COVID-19. And that's why we have to think outside of just what happens within our community block, but also globally in terms of economic stability. We have to say, if we are not sharing the wealth of these vaccines, how does what happened in India or China are the fact that only one or two percent of Japan is vaccinated at this point? The impact of what's happening in Brazil where we have a massive death occurring today related to COVID-19 infections. How does that keep us, right? How do we lean on each other in that regard? So, vaccinating as many of us as possible, sharing that wealth across this globe, that's the way we actually move forward for not only our generation, but generations to come. And Dr., can you just remind us if you're a person who hasn't been vaccinated and you're worried about it and you want more information, where should you go? For sure. You know, there's a difference between vaccine hesitant and vaccine curious. And there are many of us who haven't been vaccinated yet that just truly want more information they can trust. So if you go to fightinfectiousdisease.org, there's a plethora of information that explains exactly what is COVID-19, what new things have we learned about it? What are the vaccine options that there can be afforded to you that you can ask those questions for your primary care physician to make that best decision? So again, go to fightinfectiousdisease.org, find all your information there. That sounds good. And then just a last question. For those of us who have been vaccinated, for example, I've got the J&J. There's a sort of percentage, like 65% effective. I don't think that that's actually the word. Do I have to worry about catching COVID? I mean, I understand I won't get as sick, but are my chances of getting the virus greater than someone who got Pfizer, for example? Right. And at this point, you know, especially with the Johnson & Johnson, when they were going through their clinical trial, you have to remember it was spatially, time-wise, different than when Pfizer and Moderna were going through their trials, right? Because I got my Pfizer vaccine December the 15th. I was the first person at the University of Virginia to be vaccinated. Those clinical trials were underway before we had the South African variant, before we had the Brazilian variant. And Johnson & Johnson literally went to those areas to say, let me conduct my clinical trial right where these mutants are actually happening. And so I hope you do trust that the Johnson & Johnson is going to serve you well. But regardless of which vaccine we have, what we know is that does it prevent, if I've been vaccinated since December, I can still go to work. And one of my patients who has COVID-19 can cough in my face. It allows this virus to get inside of my body. Now the difference though, is that because my body has these antibodies circulating because I've been vaccinated, then immediately when it recognizes this virus has entered within my cells, it can begin to attack that virus to rid my body. So instead of the virus being able to replicate and overwhelm my body system, it's quenched, right? And so when I go home even, now I'm home and I'm talking to my family members. Because my immune system is keeping that viral load really low, the likelihood of me infecting my family members is also reduced, right? So that's the beauty about vaccinations. It not only protects me, but it protects everyone I love and I'm around. And do you see that we're going to need to have boosters for these, or is that really yet to be determined? It's yet to be determined. I mean, the promising thing is that Pfizer-Francis really says six months data that showed it was still 91% effective, right? As far as preventing the severe signs and symptoms of COVID-19. So the hope is that it will be for a long-lasting vaccination, but we have booster shots for other vaccines that we have to take. Technus is being a great example where you have to get a booster shot. And it's okay. We will meet it where we have to. But the biggest point is that the less people that get the uptake of the vaccine, the more likely the more people will be infected with COVID-19 to develop these mutant viruses that will make me push us to happen to have a booster shot or changing our vaccine in some kind of way. So the best way that we can actually reduce the likelihood that our vaccines don't work is by actually getting vaccinated and preventing these mutants from being able to develop in the first place. Well, Dr. Ebony Hilton, I want to thank you so much for joining us today and also your leadership in helping the community understand what's going on and being a leader in your own organization at the University of Virginia. Thank you so much. Thank you. Have a great one. Great to see you. Bye-bye.