Dr. Steven Corwin, CEO of Presbyterian Hospital in New York, joins Yahoo Finance’s Kristin Myers and Alexis Christoforous to discuss the latest on the coronavirus.
Video transcription
ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: Welcome back everyone. Trying to book an appointment for a COVID-19 vaccine has recently become much easier. Some vaccination sites now say that the slots will not be filled. And experts are now warning that the supply of vaccines is likely to exceed demand in the coming weeks. Here to talk more about it, dr. Steven Corwin, CEO of New York Presbyterian Hospital here in New York.
Dr. Corwin, good to see you again. So, what do you see there on the ground at your hospitals? Do you think we are approaching a tipping point here in the demand for vaccine?
STEVEN CORWIN: Well, first of all, I think we are seeing a decrease in cases across the country, which is very comforting. And if you look at the vaccine data, I think the vaccine has a real impact where it is given worldwide, whether it is Israel, the UK, and certainly, with the rapid explosion here. So we are starting to feel less pressure on our intensive care beds, and we are seeing less in the way of admissions, which is great.
That said, I think we are always going to get to the point where demand is going to start to decrease, and supply will increase. And I think we need to double our efforts now to make sure everyone is vaccinated. For whatever reason to hesitate the vaccine, I think it’s important to inform people about the vaccine, to depoliticize the vaccine and get people to take it.
That’s why I think it was important for the FDA to discontinue the J&J vaccine because I think people want to trust that the vaccine is safe. And even though it was just a one in a million chance of getting the blood clots, I think I will really understand what the cause was. So I’m hopeful we’ve reached a positive tipping point, but we’re definitely seeing a lot more in the way of supply right now.
KRISTIN MYERS: So doctor, I hear what you’re saying in terms of vaccination hesitation. For people who want to receive one of the vaccines, you are curious about the distribution of vaccines, at least as far as the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is concerned. I know what you’re saying about the blood clots, which of course was of concern to many people who saw the headlines, but now I see other headlines that one of the plants producing the Johnson & Johnson vaccine found. to have contaminated doses from a series of failures and as far as the plant is concerned. Of course, which made me think, I do not want the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, especially not if I have the options of Pfizer or Moderna. Is there any way, as the hospital administrator thought, that you should rather stick to some of these other vaccines to spread.
STEVEN CORWIN: Good question. I’ll tell you that my daughter just gave birth to our first grandchild, and that she got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, so I’m pretty confident in the vaccine. I think you’re right, which is why we have an experienced FDA. The data monitoring, the safety board, the ability of the FDA to make sure there are no supply chain errors or manufacturing errors.
In an almost perverse way, I am comforted by the fact that they have encountered these flaws in the supply chain. J&J is a great company. We can always have mistakes, but I think the vaccination is effective. I think the vaccine is good, and I think we’ll be fine with any of the three vaccines that have been approved so far, to be honest with you.
ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: What do you see in terms of younger people wanting to be vaccinated? Do they run for the occasion? Think they, you know what, maybe COVID is not that bad, or you know what, maybe I want to wait to see what the side effects are. How does the population feel?
STEVEN CORWIN: Well, I definitely think there was a lot of enthusiasm among younger people that was done with the J&J vaccine. People now just make sure it’s safe. I think unfortunately we have a political divide around the vaccine, and you saw the polls just like I did. I do not have solid evidence on that, but I think we should make sure that it is not a Republican or Democratic issue, that everyone should be trained about it because we need to get herd immunity, and we can not get herd- immunity without the vast majority of people being vaccinated in the country. This is the way we come out of this.
And as I said in my introductory remarks, we really feel that spring has arisen between the cases that go down and the vaccine comes. If we stick to it as a country, I think summer and autumn will be much, much better than last year.
KRISTIN MYERS: Doctor, you said at the beginning of some of your remarks that efforts should be doubled to reach some of the people who are a little reluctant to take the vaccine. But then, of course, we also see inequality in the distribution of vaccines among certain populations and certain communities. What efforts or what are you looking at to make sure the vaccine reaches as many people around the New York Presbyterian as possible?
STEVEN CORWIN: Well, we made a very strong and coordinated effort around the vaccine we had in Upper Manhattan. And for you listeners, these are mostly immigrants in the Dominican community, but Upper Manhattan, North Harlem, and so on, and we spent a lot of time educating patients individually at community organizations, faith-based organizations, and talking to each of these communities. . , and we found it to be quite effective.
So our demographics in terms of, we have given about 200,000 doses of vaccines, first and second dose, and our demographics are excellent in terms of that. I think almost 60% are BIPOC communities, communities of color. But we also now see people in white working class communities who are reluctant to take it. It therefore extends beyond communities of color. It’s a stock issue across the country, but our efforts, especially in our communities, have been to start communities of color.
ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: This is excellent and can certainly be seen as a blueprint for other hospitals across the country, Doctor. I just want your thoughts on these variants, these new variants that keep popping up. Do you see at your hospitals that the existing vaccines with these variants are effective?
STEVEN CORWIN: Yes, very much so. I think we see less in the way of disease. I think the British variant is now the dominant variant in New York. We have some of the New York variant. We think the vaccine is effective against everyone, and serious hospitalizations have decreased. You see it dramatically in people who have received two doses of vaccine, especially in the group older than 60 years.
As for your earlier points, we need to make sure that people between the ages of 18 and 49 get the vaccine and get it as soon as possible. And I would take it personally – I had the Pfizer vaccine, but I would go Pfizer, Moderna or J&J. And like I told you, my daughter had the J&J vaccine when she gave birth to our first grandchild. So I think they are all safe and just get a shot in the arms.
ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: Outstanding. Excellent insights, dr. Corwin. Congratulations on becoming a grandfather too. Good news.
STEVEN CORWIN: Thank you. You know, given everything that happened to COVID, it’s a wonderful feeling to see a new life come into the world. I’m sure you understand that.
ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: Absolutely a blessing. Okay, thanks again for your time.
STEVEN CORWIN: Thank you very much.
ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: See you soon.