WEBVTT	#Elemental Media Engine(TM) 2.17.0.603489

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In an L.A. Times Op-Ed,

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Dr. Mark Morocco, who is

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also a professor of emergency

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medicine at UCLA, says

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medical professionals are tired

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of seeing sick and dying patients.

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He writes, quote, It didn't have

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to be this way.

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Thank you, Dr. Morocco, for taking

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time out of your busy day.

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Thanks, Lisa, it's good to be here

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with you and the Spectrum viewers.

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Well, I have to tell you, when I was

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reading your Op-Ed, it

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was really breathtaking in that it

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was so raw.

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It was so emotional.

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What was it you were trying to

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convey?

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Well, there are two things.

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The first is, I would tell people

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this week, especially, don't panic.

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And the second is that there's still

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time that what you do matters

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and can save some lives and help

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us do our jobs.

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You probably don't, you're probably

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a little surprised to know that

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physicians and respiratory

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therapists and nurses have these

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feelings, but we're feeling the same

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the same fatigue and the same sort

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of "we're over this" as everybody

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else in our society.

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We want our restaurants to be open.

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We want to be able to go back and

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see our parents.

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My parents are in their 80s, haven't

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seen them in a while.

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And then when we try to take care of

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people and they tell us stories

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about behavior that is really

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not that difficult to avoid.

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And that's the key thing is some of

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the things that you're hearing for

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the next six weeks and it's

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incredibly urgent for this next

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six weeks, everybody unifies.

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Not just across Los Angeles County,

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but across the country to knock the

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top off of this latest surge.

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Remember, we're looking at numbers

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that are so much worse than we

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had in March and April in the

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spring, and we have a light at the

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end of the tunnel. So one of the

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things I tell people is aside from

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don't panic.

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Think of it this way.

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The less people that have the

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disease, the faster the vaccine is

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going to help us get to the end of

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this. So help the vaccine do its

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work by not having as many exposed

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people to protect us from.

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Then we'll get back to the logic we

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want to have.

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So, yeah, we're a little frustrated

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sometimes. But when you come to my

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emergency room and this is true of

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emergency rooms and ICUs across the

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country, we're professionals.

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We signed up for this.

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You're not going to hear that from

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me. I'm going to give you one

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hundred percent. And that's the same

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is true for my crew and my

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colleagues.

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What are the types of behaviors that

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are so frustrating for you to

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witness as a doctor?

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Well, we're not asking people to do

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things that are difficult or

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expensive. They're not asking to

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take dangerous drugs or fly

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somewhere and fight in a war.

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We're asking that a mask and social

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distance and avoid

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these crowds.

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The difference is key now because

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there's so much more virus in the

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community. And that's not just true

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of Los Angeles County, where we are

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a hotspot, but there are hotspots

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all across the country.

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So what you could do in

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July, August, September,

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the things like the outdoor dining,

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they're are a lot more dangerous to

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you now than they were then, which

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is why we're asking you to take this

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seriously.

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But we understand people's

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frustrations.

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We're thinking that they're angry at

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the wrong people. So for me

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and for my crew, we are still going

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to take care of you every day.

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And it doesn't matter what you say

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or how you got it, we're better at

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taken care of than ever before.

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The problem is, if we run out of

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capacity and we need a bed to put

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you in and we don't have it, then

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you're in real trouble.

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That's when you see things like what

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you saw in Italy and New York.

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The stringent guidelines in

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L.A. County, and now, as of a

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few days ago, the state

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the lockdown measures

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once we hit these triggers

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that Governor Gavin Newsom

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explained.

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How did you accept that?

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Was that good news, that welcome

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news for you?

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Well, no, Lisa, not at all.

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That wasn't welcome news.

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I was hoping that we would be able

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to puddle along at a relatively low

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group of infected individuals until

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the vaccines come and help save the

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day like the cavalry.

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But we felt that especially what

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happened around Thanksgiving,

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somebody said that, you know, we

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blew through a stop sign on

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Thanksgiving with travel. Well we

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are seeing that in the hospitals

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where we've had a thousand new cases

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in L.A.

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County every day and we're

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setting records.

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And in fact, the projected numbers

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that we were looking at before this

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happened. Turns out the real numbers

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are actually worse.

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So it was expected.

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We didn't want to do it.

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But here we are and I'm appealing

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to everybody who can hear me.

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This is a time for you to keep your

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family safe, do something

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that helps us and prevent

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this from becoming a disaster.

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But you do agree with the measures

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the governor is asking us to take.

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I have to tell you, we did it before

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we can do it again.

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It worked for us when there was a

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smaller amount of virus out there.

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Remember, it's going to work again

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if we take it seriously, but it's

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going to be harder this time.

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We have the holidays upon us.

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We saw what happened during wedding

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season, that case in Maine

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where the people who were infected

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at the wedding were not

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overcome by the virus, but they

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spread it to other people and people

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died.

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How concerned are you about warning

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people not to gather with people

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outside of your households, even if

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they're the grandparents or

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the cousins, that that it shouldn't

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be done?

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I want them to take this seriously

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now. The next six weeks really

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is a time when what they do will

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change the course of this.

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So the people in that Maine wedding,

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if you read that article, it's a

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wonderful article.

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It talks about, they did all the

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right things. They tested before

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they flew.

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There's nobody who was there was

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known to have active symptoms.

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Nobody who was involved in the

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wedding had active symptoms.

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And yet they still have a super

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spreader event.

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And we understand that you're tired

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and you're sick of this, but we're

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asking you to just hold the line,

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stay focused, take focused action.

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Think of it as a way to protect

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yourself and to give extra power to

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the virus. This may cut off the

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time it takes us to get back to

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normal by months if we do the right

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thing. If we don't, we could be

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living behind our masks and our

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restrictions for many months into

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the spring instead of just a few

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months.

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With the new vaccines coming our

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way, you have complete confidence,

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and people should have complete

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confidence in them.

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Absolutely. I tell people I would

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elbow Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx out

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of the way to get my vaccination.

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These are incredibly effective.

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They've been tested on far more

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people for side effects and

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reactions than any vaccine in

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history.

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Over two hundred thousand people.

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And their efficacy is super

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high, which we were surprised that

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was going to be that high. This is a

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much better vaccine than the

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traditional flu vaccine and much

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safer.

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Dr. Mark Morrocco, UCLA professor

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of emergency medicine, thank you

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for all you were doing for

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all of us. We appreciate you.

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Thank you.