COVID-19 cases surpass 28.7M in the U.S.

Dr. Calvin Sun,The Monsoon Diaries Founder & CEO, Clinical Assistant Professor and Attending Physician in Emergency Medicine at the majority of ERs and hospital systems in NYC, joined Yahoo Finance Live to break down what Texas and other states reopening means as COVID-19 cases surpass 28.7 million in the U.S.

Video Transcript

ADAM SHAPIRO: Welcome back to Yahoo Finance Live. We've got to talk about COVID-19 and all of the headlines. And we're going to do that with Dr. Calvin Sun. He is the Monsoon Diaries founder and CEO, as well as a clinical assistant professor and attending physician in emergency medicine at the majority of the emergency rooms and hospital systems here in New York City. I think it's fair to say, you know what you're talking about.

So let me ask. We have President Biden highly critical of the moves of governors like Abbott in Texas to totally reopen and get rid of their mask mandates. Yet we have in New York, we're reopening. It's not a total reopening, but we're also opening up to indoor, 100 people can gather. What's the difference?

CALVIN SUN: So if there are tornadoes outside my home, I don't want to go outside. However, if it's dying down and the weather's getting better and looks like sunshine is on its way, I'm more likely probably going to go outside. It's not about what you do. It's how you do it. When you go out, when you decide as your parachute is landing, you-- after you jump out of an airplane, and you open your parachute, when do you cut the rope and land on your feet? Or do you even cut the rope at all?

I mean, it's a risk that some places may not be as well calculated compared to other places. So it depends on where. You cannot do things half-heartedly. Otherwise, you're going to get half-hearted the results, which we fear is going to lead to another wave.

SEANA SMITH: So, Dr. Sun, it sounds like you think that this is way too soon for states like Alabama, Texas, Mississippi, some of the states that have rolled back their COVID restrictions, that have lifted their mask mandates. Sounds like it's too soon that they're doing this.

CALVIN SUN: Yeah, and if you live in an area where 98% of the people are vaccinated or COVID never even happened, if that happened to be under a rock somewhere, then please go outside. Please-- you know, you don't have to wear a mask in the middle of the woods somewhere. However, your prevalence rates are like 10%, 20%. Your grandma might get it, let alone someone in your family member might die from COVID, and you're not fully vaccinated. Maybe it's not a good time to go outside.

But it's really you can do whatever you want is the idea of living here, but you also have to assume the responsibility of when something bad happens, if you were to do everything you want. And unfortunately, if everyone chose to do that, it's not a very sustainable society to live in. So that's why we have these rules and mandates. So it's a balance in between those two. And I feel like the balance has now shifted to an imbalance that led us to this problem in the first place.

ADAM SHAPIRO: So I can't bash reporters because I am one. And yet, reporters are going to talk about how we see cases surging in Europe. Uh-oh, beware United States. Is it fair for us to raise those concerns? I mean, our approaches to all of this are different, the European countries versus the US. Should we be alarmed as we see it go up over there about what it truly means for us here?

CALVIN SUN: It's more of a warning that what could happen there could happen here. I mean, what New York went through in March and April, we ran alarm bells through the rest of the country to tell them it's coming. And yet, the rest of the country, despite whatever New York went through-- it's the same country-- went through a second, third, fourth, fifth wave, plus second, third, fourth lockdown, when New York only has really went through one lockdown, it's a warning and what could happen there could happen here. And if you fail to prepare, prepare to fail.

So but at the same time, Europeans are different from Americans. You have to also meet people where they are and communicate in the way they fully understand. What can work in Scandinavia may not work in the United States of America. But it's, again, the communication and the messaging, while taking into the facts. It's up to us to synthesize it and deliver in a way that people can absorb it and make an effective action out of it that protects others, as well as in themselves.

SEANA SMITH: Doctor, let's talk vaccination efforts. You work in a number of hospitals throughout New York City. What are you seeing on the ground, just in terms of the number of people that are getting vaccinated throughout the hospitals and just the rate that we should be at or would like to be at, at this point?

CALVIN SUN: I think that things are encouraging where there's a huge demand for the vaccines. Again, as I said in the last time I was on, that the lack of supply then created this huge surge and an increase in desire for it, like a Supreme brand or kid's brand. Everyone wants something that there is very little of. And market capitalism somehow working ironically, and now everybody wants to be in this cool club, called being vaccinated.

So there's a huge demand. There's always things running out. I mean, you can tell that every time vaccination spots open up, 3,000, 4,000 at a time in Javits Center, when I log in to check it, within an hour, they're all gone. It's like getting Bruce Springsteen tickets or Ticketmaster or Avengers tickets. It's just like so many people want it, which is very encouraging.

And what I'm seeing on the ground is the people who are getting vaccinated, I'm seeing so many side effects-- them being relief, joy, catharsis, and just a feeling, though, a huge weight has been lifted off their shoulders. So that's all really good stuff so far, and I think it's been very encouraging, relative to what we've been through in the last year. But again, relative. The bar has been set very low with last year.

ADAM SHAPIRO: Back in the day, I would have traded you my Tina Turner tickets for a vaccine. Got to ask you, though, you talk about supply and demand. If you go on the sites and so many pharmacies-- this is myopic to New York-- pharmacies have it. And there are appointments available if you're 65 or older. What's that about? I mean, go on right now to the Walgreens site. You'll see appointments available, appointments available. It doesn't sound like they're running out.

CALVIN SUN: Yeah, if you had the ability to give it to everyone, ideally, everyone should get it 20 minutes ago, 100%, all at once. That's ideal, but obviously, that's not practical. There is a supply issue where people have to be wary of just giving it all out. Look, I mean, look at videos of elsewhere around the world where, like, 1,000 people are crowding a small, little office, causing mayhem and chaos, thus further spreading the virus.

So you don't want what happened in "Contagion." Remember that movie, where so many people wanted something and they ended up demanding it, and they ended up causing a super spread event. So you have to do it in a controlled fashion, given the high demand for it. Now demand is encouraging, but again, you want to treat the people that most likely will overwhelm the hospitals if they are not vaccinated.

That is why they're targeting the people that if they were to get COVID first or without being vaccinated, they will more likely come to the hospital. 65 years and older with comorbidities are the reason why they should be vaccinated first. And if they don't want it anymore, or they've been fully vaccinated, then we move down the tier systematically, instead of just giving it to everyone who can more easily cut the line.

But those are the people who would not likely overwhelm our hospitals if they were not vaccinated. There's an art to this. Vaccines do not prevent infection or spread as so much they prevent death. What we want to do is prevent overwhelming our hospital system, which is why we vaccinate the most vulnerable first.

ADAM SHAPIRO: You are one of our favorite experts on this topic, Dr. Calvin Sun, the Monsoon Diaries founder and CEO. I'm not going to go through all of the other accolades here and titles because you've earned them, and you are someone who knows what they're talking about. Thank you for joining us. We'll be right back.