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Dr. Jerome Adams talks about bracing for another fall COVID-19 surge

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – Temperatures are dropping, which could mean another COVID-19 wave is coming and a warning from the FDA about a dangerous TikTok challenge. I had the opportunity to speak with WISH-TV medical expert and former Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams about these topics and more. Our entire conversation is below. 

Dr. Mary Gillis: What kind of winter should we expect in terms of COVID? Will it be as deadly as 2021? 

Dr. Jerome Adams: We aren’t expecting it going to be as deadly as 2021. Fewer people are dying, but it’s important to know that there’s still people dying every day. There was a 20% increase in hospitalizations just this week in Europe. So, it’s important that people understand we don’t know what’s going to happen, but we do know that you can protect yourself by getting your flu shot and being up to date on your vaccines, meaning getting that new by bivalent booster. 

Gillis: Was President Biden wrong to tell 60 minutes that COVID is over? What strains are circulating now and is a new one coming?

Adams: Well, I’ve been clear on this. I’ve been clear on this on Twitter, other interviews and in an op-ed I recently wrote. He is absolutely wrong to say this and why did I come out so strongly in saying that? Because it creates this environment where people say, why should I get a booster? Congress might say, why should we approve more funding for testing, vaccines and treatment? The president said the pandemic is over as our leader. It’s important to say things are getting better. We have more tools than ever. Those things are true, but the pandemic is not over and we still need to make sure we’re utilizing the tools at our disposal. 

Gillis: A new Inspector General report says the FDA rushed to authorize COVID tests early in the pandemic that came at a potential cost to test quality. What is the impact of this report? Do you believe the initial test quality was poor? Did the FDA know at the time its actions were flawed? 

Adams: In hindsight, we do know from that Inspector General’s report that too many tests were approved without enough vetting. Having been in the room where this was being discussed, I didn’t make these decisions. But there was a lot of discussion about how we get more tests out to people. There’s also that tradeoff between fast and right. I think the next time we have a situation like this we need to be more careful about opening the floodgates and just letting people put any test out there. 

Gillis: I want to talk about a new TikTok challenge that’s gone viral. People are cooking chicken in NyQuil. This is really dangerous. Why? 

Adams: I want people to understand as it relates to this challenge boiling any medication–and that’s what they’re doing…they’re pouring medication on chicken–can change its properties. Even if you don’t eat the chicken, inhaling the medication vapors while cooking could cause high levels of drugs to enter your body and can harm your lungs. Do not pour any medication including NyQuil on your chicken and try to cook it. That’s just silly and potentially dangerous.