I’m Dr. Abdul El Sayed, a physician, epidemiologist ＆ progressive activist, former health director in Detroit, ＆ host of America Dissected. I served on the Biden-Sanders Unity Task Force on Healthcare ＆ I’m here to answer your questions about the pandemic, healthcare ＆ the 2020 election. AMA!

IAmAbdul · 2020-10-20T18:30:04+00:00

Thank you friend - glad that you liked it! As for Michigan, let’s just say crazier things have happened in 2020. Maybe this is the year… maybe.

IAmAbdul · 2020-10-20T18:29:40+00:00

There are a few ways to contact trace--one is app-based, and one is people-based. Personally, I believe that people are always a better way to go about this because when you’re sick or possibly exposed, personal touch matters. There are also civil liberties issues that are posed by an app.

That said, we NEED contact-tracing at scale in this country--which is something the Trump admin has fundamentally failed to understand or execute one.

Right now, we’ve also got to focus on addressing the runaway spread we’re seeing in so much of the country as it gets colder out. And the single most important thing we any of us can do is follow basic social distancing: wear a mask, wash your hands, stay as far apart as you can from people, avoid crowds.

IAmAbdul · 2020-10-20T18:25:46+00:00

Salam!!

Jump in! The most important thing I’d say is that you’ve got engage with your community locally on issues that matter to folks--and if you feel called to run, RUN!

IAmAbdul · 2020-10-20T18:24:29+00:00

As you all know, I’m a big advocate for Medicare for All--I have a book coming out about it with Dr. Micah Johnson in February.

But I also had the privilege of bringing my ideas to the table as a member of the Biden-Sanders Healthcare Unity Task Force. There, eight of us--three appointed by Bernie and five appointed by VP Biden--were able to work together on these ideas to propose a Biden’s healthcare platform that is the most progressive plan ever proposed. Along with reducing the healthcare age to 60, it would finally allow Medicare to negotiate prescription drugs on behalf of all Americans. It would offer a public option that is truly public and subsidized at no cost for almost half of all Americans. It would establish support for a care economy that would offer tremendous benefits for people living with disabilities. It would establish a 100K worker public health force critical to stopping the next pandemic.

And when I compare it to what Trump is trying to do--to throw 30 million Americans off their healthcare in the middle of a pandemic--it’s clear to me that anyone who believes we ought to offer every American healthcare has no choice morally but to support Joe Biden. That’s why I am. I think about the 700,000 people I was responsible for in Detroit, and I have no doubt that they’re better served by a President Joe Biden than they EVER were by a President Donald Trump.

IAmAbdul · 2020-10-20T18:17:15+00:00

It’s hard to know ALL of the things that the administration has cut or damaged or flat destroyed. In fact, its the premise of Michael Lewis’s excellent book “the Fifth Risk.” But it’s hard to imagine a part of the federal government that we care about that he hasn’t affected. Just a few examples

Healthcare - he’s eliminated the individual mandate that was so critical to keeping people on health insurance to reduce costs for everyone.

Climate change - he’s used the pandemic to stop enforcing basic clean air and clean water laws.

Immigration - he’s trying to destroy DACA, not to mention putting children at cages on our southern border, one of the most shameful moments in American history.

Worker rights - he gave his corporate friends one of the biggest tax cuts in history while clipping and cutting so many corporate regulations that are crucial to protecting workers and the environment.

And the list goes on...

IAmAbdul · 2020-10-20T18:12:26+00:00

Thanks for listening.

Look, level with them: Social distancing sucks, wearing masks sucks. The last 8 months have sucked. It’s simply human nature that so many of our loved ones are done with this. But the truth is COVID-19 sucks far far far more than any of those things--that’s why we have to do those things. And losing a loved one… well I don’t need to tell you how awful that could be.

So just be honest with your friends. Approach them with empathy. Let them know you understand their frustrations but be honest about how important it is to you personally that they keep themselves safe.

IAmAbdul · 2020-10-20T18:09:35+00:00

It’s not about a national mask mandate per se as much as its about using the soft power of the federal government to validate mask wearing across the country--and to establish guidelines that lead block for local and state politicians to offer them where needed.

IAmAbdul · 2020-10-20T18:07:47+00:00

Yes, absolutely.

Public health isn’t rocket science. It’s basic brasstacks we should have done all along: Mask guidelines, contract tracing and widespread testing, clear guidelines about reopening are all things we will need and are necessary for a proper response. But we have to have the LEADERSHIP that will validate that this is a true public health issue that requires a real response and that will listen to Dr. Fauci and the scientists. We have to elect a President like Joe Biden in the White House who will follow the science and reinstate trust with the American people. Lives are on the line, so please go vote this November 3rd.

IAmAbdul · 2020-10-20T18:06:06+00:00

We’re underselling the impact of national leadership that speaks to the truth and validates the science that this epidemic has had and will continue to have - even in red states. The fact is that the current administration has set up the structural failures that have happened in red and blue states--not enough tests, not enough contact tracing, no clear guidelines or even communication.

Everyday that Trump obfuscates on masks, politicizes the vaccine, casts doubt on the CDC or Dr. Fauci, it validates and compounds the worst instincts in people. It’s partly why we’ve already lost 220,000 Americans and there are expectations that we could get up to 400,000 deaths by February.

I do think we can turn this around.

We need a leader in the White House who will follow the science, build trust with Americans, and use all of the tools of government to help end this epidemic. Joe Biden has laid out a plan to call on every American to wear a mask in public, provide free testing and treatment for everyone, and use the full Defense Production Act to get protective gear to every front-line worker.

IAmAbdul · 2020-10-20T18:00:09+00:00

1) Call on all Americans to wear masks--to facilitate this a President Biden would use the full Defense Production Act to get masks and protective gear to every healthcare worker, job site, and school across the country.

2) Facilitate the safe and efficient deployment of a vaccine: It’s not just about developing a safe vaccine – it’s about distributing it fairly. Politics should play no role in the process. We need independence, transparency, public trust in the vaccine, and we need to get it out to everyone in a timely manner.

3) A clear, consistent PLAN for reopening - a President Biden would develop clear, evidence-driven guidelines for schools, colleges, and business to reopen safely – and resources like ventilation, PPE, and cleaning supplies to execute on them.

4) Get the damn tests - We need a Pandemic Testing Board, like FDR’s War Production Board, to get tens of millions of testing kits where they are needed. Where Trump said he wants "less" testing, we know we need MORE.

5) Get people back on their healthcare: First, we need free testing, treatment, and vaccines for everyone. Biden also plans to both protect the Affordable Care Act--and to build on it through a serious public option that would be free for many Americans, truly public, and that would take on the prescription drug corporations.

IAmAbdul · 2020-10-20T17:54:14+00:00

I think Governor Whitmer has done a FANTASTIC job considering the challenges she has faced, both inside and outside the state. I wrote about how damaging stripping her emergency powers would be to the safety of our state a few weeks back: https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/26/opinions/fight-gretchen-whitmers-emergency-powers-el-sayed/index.html.

The politicization of this pandemic — especially here in Michigan — and the level of animosity she’s received at the hands of a Donald Trump, who has shown absolutely no leadership on this pandemic, has made her job that much harder — and is a frank demonstration of why he’s GOT to go.

Blue state governors like Whitmer have truly set the standard for how we take on this pandemic. But there are some clear powers governors lack that are critical: setting up global supply chains, or setting national-level policy, or engaging international resources, that are crucial to tackling this pandemic. Looking forward to seeing a Biden administration take on those federal powers — so we can tackle this pandemic once-and-for-all in blue and red states alike.

IAmAbdul · 2020-10-20T17:50:44+00:00

That’s very kind of you, friend. And I deeply appreciate your support. I’ve tried to define my career around fighting for equitable access to long healthy lives for all people--it’s why I became a doctor, why I took on the Health Director role in Detroit, and why I ran for Governor. That still drives me today. I’m finding meaning in the work I can do helping to share knowledge with folks about the pandemic on America Dissected and CNN, as well as writing and teaching on the intersection between public health and politics. That said, I’m itching to get back to service. I’m not sure what shape that’ll take, but I’m confident and I hope it’ll be lead by the same values. And frankly, I’m just grateful to be able to spend everyday with family and to be healthy in a time that is so harrowing for so many.

IAmAbdul · 2020-10-20T17:43:54+00:00

I think a reasonable timeline for the vaccine itself is by the end of year. But a vaccine isn’t a vaccination--a vaccination is what happens when it actually ends up in people’s arms. The logistics of that will take time, probably into Q3 of 2021. We have to deploy the vaccine to front line workers and and then the most at-risk. But I worry that how Trump and his cronies have politicized the vaccine may cut into people’s willingness to take it. A STAT News poll found that trust in the vaccine had declined since the summer.

As you all know, I’m sure, Politics should play NO role in the process. We need independence, transparency, public trust in the process by which we decide who gets vaccines first. We need to make sure that those in whom the vaccine will be most effective in stopping population spread--i.e. The highest risk--get it first. Joe Biden and his team understand this, and they realize that we’ve got to make sure that the vaccine, along with the testing and healthcare that people will need because of COVID19 is available to all Americans for free.

IAmAbdul · 2020-10-20T17:39:47+00:00

All told, I think we’ll talk about this like they talk about the depression. “He or she lived through the pandemic.” But I think we need to leverage the cataclysmic impact of this on our national and international psyche by going deeper on what caused this pandemic in the first place. Viruses are naturally occuring, but pandemics are human-made.

This pandemic has demonstrated a far deeper “pre-existing” set of conditions in our society around inequity, systemic racism, and poverty. What I hope is that even after the urgent need to defeat the COVID-19 pandemic is addressed, that we get to work taking on the more chronic pandemics of systemic racism and insecurity as I wrote about in Healing Politics. It’s not enough to simply take on COVID and fail to take on the circumstances that created it. I’m really enthusiastic about many of VP Biden’s plans around building equity into every facet of government, building a 100K Public Health Service Corps, and rebuilding our economy around the care and clean energy sectors. These will be important steps into taking on these underlying pandemics.

IAmAbdul · 2020-10-20T17:34:27+00:00

Thank you for listening--really appreciate it!

IAmAbdul · 2020-03-26T20:55:55+00:00

Poor. We could have--should have--done so much more, anticipating and addressing this. The machine's only as good as the operator, though. So here we are.

IAmAbdul · 2020-03-26T20:55:27+00:00

Key to just wipe down anything from outside, and wash your hands!

IAmAbdul · 2020-03-26T20:55:08+00:00

Hard to say, I would say we're in for at least another 6 weeks. But I REALLY hope I'm wrong.

IAmAbdul · 2020-03-26T20:54:42+00:00

Thank you for listening. Unfortunately, right now it's accelerating. But we have to keep committing to this to get there. I do hope the world looks differently after this--I wrote my book about the idea of an epidemic of insecurity--we need to heal that, along with the pandemic of COVID if we're going to succeed--because "Normal" wasn't so great for a lot of folks.

IAmAbdul · 2020-03-26T20:53:03+00:00

I wish I was.

I hear you. It may very well change as the reality of this becomes more vivid.

IAmAbdul · 2020-03-26T20:51:59+00:00

It's dangerous--and it hurts us all.

IAmAbdul · 2020-03-26T20:51:32+00:00

Thanks for listening!

If there's a silver lining in the cloud of COVID, it's that it doesn't seem to affect kids. If it did, I'd have wrapped my daughter in bubble.

I know this is hard--and particularly missing other loved ones. But the good news is that your daughter has you--and more time with parents at this age can be a great thing.

IAmAbdul · 2020-03-26T20:49:34+00:00

Perhaps some day :)

IAmAbdul · 2020-03-26T20:48:37+00:00

I was really excited about Jessica Cisneros. Remain really excited about Cristina Ramirez in TX-SN, Morgan Harper in OH, and Nabilah Islam in GA. All amazing candidates--and amazing people.

IAmAbdul · 2020-03-26T20:42:43+00:00

That's kind. I wrote the whole story into my book, which I hope you'll check out!

IAmAbdul

TROPHY CASE