Dr. Deborah Birx: "We Prepared for the Wrong Kind of Pandemic"

In this 139th episode, Dr. Deborah Birx joins J. Stephen Morrison to discuss her new book, Silent Invasion. On that day, former President Trump responded to the book by, among other things, lamenting oddly that “Debbie Birx does not have a lot of dresses.” In her inside account, Deborah details the repeated failures both to acknowledge the power of silent transmission by fully vaccinated, asymptomatic infected individuals, and the need to keep a relentless focus on testing, masks and limiting the size of gatherings. The Trump administration’s catastrophic failures stemmed from the president himself and those around him, including their prevailing worries about the economy and the quest for reelection. Her journey to 44 states and 30 universities brought home the fragility of the rural health system in much of America and the need to engage far more closely with local communities. In the Biden administration, repeated stumbles in guidance and communications have weakened public trust and confidence.