Is the End of the COVID-19 Pandemic Near?

Judge Jeanine Pirro recently hosted a panel of medical doctors to address viewer questions about COVID-19. What Pirro was looking for was common sense, easy to understand answers that are data driven and not based on politics. What you’re about to watch or read (your choice) should put you at ease. The consensus is that the end of the COVID-19 pandemic is in sight. And this virus has done what viruses do Variants weaken and Omicron, while highly contagious is far less deadly than Delta and it’s paving “a path of immunity” because “the newer variants give you the common cold.”

Watch as Dr. Marc Siegel (author of “COVID: the Politics of Fear and the Power of Science”), Dr. Marty Makary (professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine) and Dr. Robert Hariri (professor of Neurosurgery at Weill Cornell Medical College and CEO of Celularity) field the tough questions that Judge Jeanine felt her viewers deserved to have answered.

For those of you who prefer videos, please watch the 9-minute video. For those of you who prefer to read, I’ve done my best to capture the questions and replies that struck me the most. What you lack from reading alone is the reactions (and respect) of the others when they’re listening to Pirro’s questions and the replies of their peers.

Source: Justice with Judge Jeanine on Fox News, January 8, 2022

QUESTIONS Directed to Dr. Marc Siegel:

1)”Apparently, we no longer need a test to leave isolation. And the CDC says now that a negative rapid test doesn’t necessarily mean that someone stops spreading the virus. So, aren’t they saying that the rapid test isn’t as accurate as we thought it was?”

“If we can’t use the PCR as a test-out and the rapid test we can’t get, or even if we get it, it’s not 100%… then why did they (the CDC) reduce the isolation period from 10 days to 5 days?”

2) “Now, we’re being told that even PCR test is not accurate. That in fact, you can have positive for 3 months or 12 weeks with a PCR when you’re not even positive any more. So, is that test not accurate?”

3) “If we can’t use the PCR as a test-out and the rapid test we can’t get, or even if we get it, it’s not 100% then why did they (the CDC) reduce the isolation period from 10 days to 5 days? Wouldn’t a shorter isolation actually require a test before you’re able to go out into the public?”

ANSWERS from Dr. Marc Siegel:

1) “I think they got this all mixed up Judge. I think the truth is that 5 days is pretty short because at the end of 5 days, assuming you’ve had no symptoms for 3, at the end of 5-days, about 10 to 20 percent can still be contagious. The rapid test would be useful at that point if it was positive before and then turned negative. But you’re absolutely right. It’s not 100% accurate and this is more to the point. We don’t have them!”

2) “That test is accurate. Much more accurate. The problem is that that detects dead virus. So, here you are. You’re better. You can go back to work. Back to school. But guess what? It’s still positive because it will stay positive as long as you have dead virus around or particles of the virus. That can take several weeks. We cannot use the PCR as a test-out strategy. Absolutely not”

3) “10 days was too long.”… “5 days is too short without a rapid test and without being sure that several rapid tests are negative. You’re absolutely right. They’ve created tremendous confusion with this. 5 days too short. 10 days too long. No testing.”

QUESTIONS Directed to Dr. Robert Hariri:

1) “What is the difference between a vaccine and a therapeutic?”

2) “Why did I take a vaccine when I already had COVID? Is an antibody stronger than a vaccine?”

ANSWERS from Dr. Robert Hariri:

1) “A vaccine is a tool that’s used to educate your vaccine system against the pathogen, like a virus, like COVID. You need a healthy immune system for a vaccine to work. And you must deploy it before the patient actually gets exposed or becomes sick. Otherwise, it’s nothing but a public health tool. It’s not a therapy. It’s not a treatment.”

2) “There is nothing better than your immune system learning how to defend itself against a virus then being exposed to it and surviving it. When that happens, your immune system creates (kind of a multi) multi-aphasic approach to dealing with the pathogen. A vaccine is designed to kind of create immunity or immunoglobulins or antibodies against just one part of the pathogen. That is not ideal.”

QUESTIONS Directed to Dr. Marty Makary:

1) “If someone has the COVID and they have the antibody, then how long does that antibody last?”

2) “When they tell us, get a vaccine, get a booster. Pfizer is talking about a 4th vaccine. Moderna …. I don’t know.”… “They can’t keep up or they can’t compete with an antibody. Is that correct Dr. Makary?”

3) “Are the vaccines still considered experimental?”

ANSWERS from Dr. Marty Makary

1) “Well, it’s amazing that the government has not done a study. My team at John Hopkins has done a study and the results will be coming out in about two weeks. But, if you have an infection, your body has antibodies. With chicken pox, your body has chicken pox antibodies. You don’t have the chicken pox vaccine. Natural immunity is working and in the time that we studied it, it appears to be durable.”

2) “There is absolutely… There is no data to support getting a booster in someone who has natural immunity. People have circulating antibodies but they are antibodies that are not recognized. And that failure to recognize natural immunity has ruined a lot of careers.”

3) “I don’t think so. I think that we have solid data now that they downgrade the infection but we have created this false impression that they somehow prevent you from getting the infection. Omicron doesn’t care if you’ve had the COVID vaccine, the flu vaccine or the MMR. It’s running around. It’s a bad cold season right now.” (Note: Judge Jeanine’s response to this was “75% of those who have Omicron have been vaccinated.”

Jeanine Pirro’s Final QUESTION:

“This is not a civilization ending virus. When will this be over?”

The Expert Panel’s Final ANSWERS:

Dr. Marc Siegel: “This will be over if Omicron paves a path of immunity here. And also, it’s creating antibodies to the Delta (by the way). Unless another variant comes along that out competes it. And I don’t think that’s likely because this is so contagious. So transmissible. I think we’re heading to an endemic stage.”

Dr. Marty Makary: “One or two more months. Typically, the flu season ramps down in February and Omicron is displacing Delta.”

Dr. Robert Hariri: “It’s a combination of what Marc said and what Marty said. And the fact is we’ve got to begin to learn to live with this because in many cases, these variants, the newer variants give you the common cold.”