Dr. Oz on Biden's handling of COVID-19: 'We have a medical emergency caused by gross incompetence'
U.S. Senate candidate in Pennsylvania, Dr. Mehmet Oz, joined 'Fox & Friends' to discuss the latest on COVID-19 treatments and how bureaucracy has 'stifled' accessibility.
On Jan. 20, 2020, our country changed forever when the CDC confirmed its first case of COVID-19 in the United States. Exactly one year later, Joe Biden took office after campaigning on the promise that he was "going to shut down the virus."
Fast-forward to today, as we near the one-year mark of his presidency. It’s clear that even though Biden said he would defeat this virus, it’s COVID that has defeated him. And based on his shocking admission that there is "no federal solution" to the pandemic, it looks like he knows it too.
In his campaign, Biden’s closing message centered on his ability to lead us through and out of this pandemic, yet more than half of Americans now say they disapprove of his handling of the pandemic.
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COVID was considered a bright spot of Biden’s presidency by his cheerleaders in the mainstream media. Now the pandemic belongs on his growing list of failures, including the border crisis, his deadly withdrawal from Afghanistan, supply chain breakdowns, and skyrocketing costs for consumer goods and services.
Where did he go wrong? Joe Biden tried to make the pandemic bend to his politics – picking and choosing when to follow the science and when to follow his far-left, radical liberal base. It’s gross incompetence that is hurting our country, leaving many to wonder if we’re transitioning from a pandemic to an endemic.
We’ve witnessed President Biden’s gross incompetence when developing the testing we need to keep this under control. Biden’s own press secretary scoffed at the idea to send free tests to every American just days before the Biden administration announced a plan to mass mail 500 million at-home tests. Now, many experts, including myself, are worried this effort comes too late.
I’m still deeply concerned about President Biden’s refusal to make monoclonal antibodies directly available for states to purchase as needed.
Meandering bureaucrats slowed our ability to get life-saving therapeutics in the hands of those who needed them, and we still don’t have enough approved. I have made this argument since the early days of the pandemic. Doctors don’t just prevent disease. We also need tools and strategies to help patients during breakthroughs of disease. We witnessed shockingly slow evaluations of life-saving drugs that existed prior to the emergence of COVID and could have saved thousands of lives.
Just before Christmas, the FDA approved Pfizer’s Paxlovid, an antiviral pill that is 90% effective in keeping high-risk COVID patients out of the hospital, but the supply available to hospitals is limited, capping the potential benefit of these crucial therapeutics. Pharmacies have no idea when they will receive the drug for outpatient use by desperate COVID-infected customers.
I’m still deeply concerned about President Biden’s refusal to make monoclonal antibodies directly available for states to purchase as needed. As cases rise, we must use all treatments at our disposal to help save lives – no matter where the cases may occur.
When it comes to therapeutics, the FDA let its process stand in the way of our patients – but in their handling of vaccines, they are doing the opposite. Recently, reports have circulated that the FDA is bypassing its scientific advisers to authorize boosters for all kids 12-15 next week. This shouldn’t be the case.
Joe Biden tries to convince us that this is a pandemic of the unvaccinated, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. For months, even his own CDC has said that breakthrough cases among vaccinated people are possible.
I encourage folks to talk to their doctor and get vaccinated, but the data is clear – vaccinations aren’t enough to defeat this disease.
Boosters are the wrong challenge for America to undertake to save lives. We need to treat this disease and focus on adults who need medications, and ensure they have the therapeutics they need. Since when is the failure of a treatment being blamed on those who do not take the treatment?
I'm a doctor. My job is to review the data, and what I’ve learned is that one size does not fit all. We should acknowledge natural immunity and do more to help people understand how their cases will impact them as the virus progresses.
When you have a one-thousandfold difference between the incidence of infection and complications in older people versus young kids, we have to be brave enough as conservatives, as Republicans, and as Americans to talk openly about this before embracing lockdowns and keeping children in school.
We know that remote learning has been detrimental to our children, especially those from lower-income households. The CDC has said so. Even the new Democratic mayor of New York City says he’ll keep schools open because he knows the toll has been devastating on students. Yet, some on the Left are urging shutdowns and lockdowns, and teachers unions are preparing their fight in efforts to stay home.
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We need leaders who will stand up, be honest, and fight for what’s right. That’s why I’m running for Senate in Pennsylvania.
I believe, like many Pennsylvanians, that this inconsistency from our leaders like Joe Biden, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and the rest of the medical establishment isn’t just frustrating – it’s dangerous for our country.