![]() KELLY: I was thinking, looking back, March 11, 2020, is a day I think a lot of people might point to as when the world seemed to turn upside down. And we've got to build better vaccines and better treatments to make sure that we get even more and more effective over time. And, you know, we know how to defeat this thing, but we've got to keep pressing. So I see COVID as an ongoing threat, a real challenge to the health and well-being of the American people. I think that should be unacceptable to us. Even at 150 deaths a day, which is way below where it was - even if today is the new standard, that's 50,000 deaths a year. Flu has a very specific seasonality to it. I mean, people often ask me, you know, is this now like the flu? And I'm like, no, it's like COVID. KELLY: So how do you think about the threat that COVID poses now in spring of 2023? The target in some ways has got to be that we got to get as close to zero as possible. I don't have a number that is acceptable or the norm. I think that is a number that is too high and - especially given that most of those deaths are preventable. Well, we are at about 150 deaths a day right now. How many COVID deaths a year do you think will become the norm in the United States? I mean, understanding that any death is too many deaths, what's going to be acceptable? We think that's really, really important. JHA: For the record, I am very clear that people need to stay up with vaccines. For the record, you're still recommending that people do get vaccinated. And my hope is that we can really prevent people from getting seriously ill. But the virus continues to evolve, and we expect that evolution to continue. And obviously, what we know is that as long as people stay up on their vaccines, they get treated, that we can prevent nearly all instances of serious illness and death. I think that has been the lesson of the last three years. JHA: You know, it's been very hard to predict where this virus goes. ![]() KELLY: Do you expect case numbers to continue going down as more and more people get COVID, more and more people get vaccinated and boosted? Right now, you're installed in the office and still plenty of work to do. And I have been focused really on making sure that we have a smooth transition, and we'll see what happens next. JHA: Ah, well, we are in a better place and the COVID team will be winding down. After more than three years of emergency status, I asked Jha what comes next for the country and for his job. The government will no longer buy vaccines or tests to offer the public free of charge. KELLY: Title 42 restrictions at the border will end. JHA: A country can't be in emergency mode forever. His job is changing fast with the federal public health emergency ending this Thursday. Ashish Jha, the White House COVID-19 coordinator. KELLY: I shook hands today for the first time with Dr. We are headed in to meet a man who I've interviewed before more than once but never in person because of pandemic protocols, which is actually precisely why we're here. We have just stepped past security, stepped inside the complex. And we have made a trip across town today to the White House. ![]()
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