U.S. failed with vaccines, masks during pandemic, expert says

Dr. Omar Bagasra is director of the South Carolina Center for Biotechnology and a professor at Claflin Universiy 

The United States could have done much better with public health during the COVID-19 pandemic, immunization/vaccine expert Dr. Omar Bagasra says.

Director of the South Carolina Center for Biotechnology and a professor at Claflin University, Bagasra spoke March 23 to student journalists about pandemic issues including vaccines and masks, and what can be expected going forward.

“We lost more people than any nation on Earth,” Bagasra said of the United States.

A reported number of 6.8 million people died from the coronavirus worldwide, and 1.1 million of those deaths were in the U.S.

Bagasra disagrees with the country’s approach on how vaccines were made and about repetitive booster shots.

The U.S. only used part of the virus to create the vaccine, whereas other countries opted to use the whole virus, meaning continuing boosters for them are not necessary.

Bagasra believes that “big pharma” has used the continuing cycle of shots to make billions of dollars. “The main motive was money,” he said.

According to Bagasra, those who have not contracted COVID-19 will have to continuously receive booster shots because of this decision.

“They should start getting whole virus vaccines to people,” Bagasra said. But they won’t.

Bagasra believes mask mandates were ineffective and also tended to dilute immunity. Masks cannot prevent airborne spread, he said.

The origin of the virus is another issue about which Bagasra has strong opinions.

“It did not come from a Chinese lab,” he said.

Coronaviruses are spread by animals, such as bats and rodents, Bagasra said. COVID-19 is no different.

Bagasra warns about the future of COVID-19.

“We’re definitely going to have a new strain,” he said, with the uncertainty being its severity.