I’d still trust vaccines to suppress emergence of more variants: Doctor

Dr. Lakshman Swamy, ICU physician at Cambridge Health Alliance, joins Yahoo Finance’s Kristin Myers and Alexis Christoforous to discuss the latest on the coronavirus.

Video transcript

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: Let's switch gears here now and talk about COVID-19. There is a new Israeli study out that finds the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine may not be effective in protecting people against that South African variant of COVID-19 that we're seeing. Also separately today, the White House said COVID-19 vaccinations for children aged 12 to 15 may be available as soon as early fall, and that pediatricians' offices would most likely be administering those vaccines.

Joining us now to talk all things COVID-19 is Dr. Lakshman Swamy, ICU physician at Cambridge Health Alliance. Dr. Swami, good to see you. I want to start with this J&J news. First off, how prevalent is that South African variant in the US at the moment?

LAKSHMAN SWAMY: So, the South African variant is circulating among us. I think one of the things we have to keep in mind, is our ability to clearly know exactly what variants are in any community right now is pretty limited. And I think it's important to proceed with the understanding that the variants are not only spreading, but there's new variants coming up.

That's not necessarily something to be really scared of. I know we just heard about this concerning study that maybe the vaccines aren't so effective against this particular variant. I would put some caution on that. I would say, you know, right now, that was a small study, there's a very small number of cases with the variant. I'd like to see that in a population that has really high cases of that variant actually. So I would look to that, and I would still trust the vaccines.

I think it's really important to remember that the best way to suppress the emergence of more variants is to vaccinate broadly, to vaccinate globally. The more we can kind race to vaccinate everyone, the more we'll squash the development and spread of these variants.

KRISTIN MYERS: So, doctor, speaking about those variants and at least the efficacy of the vaccines to work on them, do you think that realistically at some point down the line, while we're still working on right now vaccinating just everyone as we possibly can here in the United States, that we're going to have to perhaps use booster shots or have additional shots to really up the efficacy against some of those variants that are cause of particular concern right now?

LAKSHMAN SWAMY: I think it's certainly not out of the question. It's not something to be that worried about. I mean, it would be amazing if we could be kind of one and done and vaccinate everyone and move on. But I think our CDC director's sense of impending doom is valid. And I think there's a frame of mind that we have about what this looks like to come out of this as doctors, as health care professionals, and it may be a little bit different than the public.

I think realistically, we want to see things open up and go back to normal. But I think the truth is that probably there will be more vaccines in the future. That's a good thing. It's amazing that we can make vaccines like this and we can make them as fast as we can. I think we'll be able to handle it.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: Doctor, April 19 is a date we're all looking at, because that's when all 50 states are expected to say that all adults, regardless of your circumstances, would be then eligible for the vaccine. What would your message be to folks who are still on the fence about getting the vaccine as that April 19 date approaches? Because once they open it up to more people, presumably it will be that much more difficult to secure yourself a vaccine.

LAKSHMAN SWAMY: Well, I think it will be more difficult in some senses. More people eligible to go up and line up and get it. On the other hand, I only think we'll be better and better at the operations, at the logistics of getting vaccine out there and getting shots into arms. You know, there's a lot of vaccine hesitancy out there. Probably the demand is still higher than the supply right now. And as you're saying, that may start to shift. That's great.

What I would say, is that now we've had at least many months of data. When did I get my first shot? It was back in December. So I think what I'm hoping people will see, is that many people have been vaccinated and have done really well. And at the same time, many people who have not been vaccinated have unfortunately, gotten quite ill and even died. So hopefully, people will start to be able to put those in contrast and say, you know what? This is as good a time as any to get my shot.

KRISTIN MYERS: OK, but about that, because we continuously see headlines, news stories of these vaccination sites that have to get shut down because a bunch of people are having adverse reactions. I mean, is that being done out of an abundance of caution? Is there something that we should be concerned about or at least worried about when it comes to these vaccines that perhaps they're not 100% safe and that some people might get ill or have these bad reactions to it once they're vaccinated?

LAKSHMAN SWAMY: So I can tell you that I think on the one hand, it is an abundance of caution, maybe appropriately so. But really, we have to look at these, these are huge numbers of patients who are getting these vaccines. It's very easy to zoom in and say, what happened to this one person, right. I think the reality is, we have to look at the whole population. The whole population of people getting vaccinated. The cases that I've read about are largely the same reactions that you get when you get any vaccine, when you get a shot in your arm. I mean, I [AUDIO OUT] I've seen.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: Doctor, before we let you go, just your thoughts on what the White House said today about the younger set, those 12 to 15, hopefully, high schoolers, middle schoolers being able to get vaccinated in the fall. Are you hopeful that we can reach herd immunity then? Or might we be able to do that over the summer before the younger set gets vaccinated?

LAKSHMAN SWAMY: You know, I'm always hopeful. I really am hopeful for a summer. And I think that what we've seen from this White House is, that they've exceeded expectations over and over again, and moved deadlines closer and closer in a good way. I'm hopeful for that. If I could get my kids into a trial right now, I would. I have younger kids than that. I'm really excited that more kids will be able to get vaccinated. I hope that moves forward really quickly.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: So do I. I'm in the same boat as you. Dr. Lakshman Swamy, thanks so much for being with us.