Screenshot via CNN.
A Texas emergency room doctor who has treated thousands of Covid patients had his own patience tested as he fended off claims from a CNN panel of vaccine skeptics.
Dr. Joseph Varon, the chief of staff at United Memorial Medical Center in Houston, attempted to resolve the doubts of several people who CNN had invited to discuss their reasons for being hesitant about the Covid-19 vaccines.
In the first segment, CNN Newsroom hosts Alisyn Camerota and Victor Blackwell spoke with four different people who shared their experiences, including a nurse who had concerns about adverse effects from the vaccines, a DJ who contracted a mild case of Covid after the first shot and was considering skipping the second, and an attorney who felt that her “natural immunity” from getting Covid last year was sufficient protection.
After a commercial break, Camerota and Blackwell brought Varon into the discussion. He began by saying that he had heard “a lot of misconceptions” in the panel’s previous comments.
“I have no problem somebody telling me, I think my
Even more important, Varon continued, was the data showing that anyone who contracted Covid after getting the vaccine, there was “a 100% chance you will not get the Covid that’s going to get you in the ICU or kill you, which is fantastic.”
The attorney who believed her natural immunity was good enough argued that she had “spoken with some of the best epidemiologists in the world” and that contracting Covid conferred long-lasting immunity.
“The epidemiologists may tell you what they want,” Varon replied. “They manage numbers. I am seeing this day in and day out. I have seen people –”
“That’s not science,” she interjected.
“I know,” Varon replied, “it’s not science but it’s the reality.” He described patients of his who had Covid once, then caught it again and were at the hospital “deadly ill.” He even had a patient who had Covid three different times. “Once in March, once in July and once in December. Same patient.”
“You don&
“Janine, just to be clear, Dr. Varon isn’t making policy,” Camerota said. “He’s a front-line worker in an emergency room. He’s sharing with you his experience.”
“Right,” she said.
“He’s telling you those who have had Covid can have it again,” Camerota attempted again.
“My views are based on my years of education, training, and experience that I have gained, unfortunately, after taking care of a couple thousand patients with severe Covid in my hospital, of which a lot of them die,” said Varon.
He added that all of his patients who had been hospitalized — including the patient who caught Covid three times — had not been vaccinated.
“Not a single one of the patients I’ve seen with Covid-19 requiring admission to my Covid ICU have had the Covid vaccine,” Varon urged the panel. “Today I admitted three of them. When you talk to them, they all give you a reason, you know, very similar to some of the ones that you guys are saying. All of these patients are about to be on a respirator. You have to understand, and I’m looking at the greater good. I understand there may be a risk. There’s a risk of everything, for God’s sake, but what I’m
Watch the video clips above, via CNN.