Dr. Oz laments politicization of COVID, vaccines on 'Hannity'
Pennsylvania Senate candidate said 'we should be rooting for vaccines and [other] solutions'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Pennsylvania Senate candidate and "The Dr. Oz Show" host Dr. Mehmet Oz explained what happens when politics and medicine mix Tuesday on "Hannity."
"You get politics," he said. "That's why I'm running for the Senate. But we cannot pervert the process of science. Too many [COVID treatment] decisions are made seemingly arbitrarily with a lot of arrogance and not a lot of understanding of what really would drive success."
"…[W]hat we have found is that people either root for vaccines or against vaccines," he continued. "In reality, we should be rooting for vaccines and solutions like the Regeneron and antibody cocktails, as well as the pills that we're now discovering. I never understood from the very get-go why we weren't all on the same page on this. We want both [vaccine and non-vaccine solutions] to exist."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Oz also called the political tribalism affecting medical decisions "harmful."
The talk show host said vaccines are "great," but vouched for therapeutic treatments for COVID, referencing a Pfizer pill that has reportedly reduced coronavirus deaths and hospitalizations by 90%. He also noted a Merck pill that he said has reduced deaths and hospitalizations by 30% to 50%. That same pill "existed before the pandemic started," he added.
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"Any doctor knows: Get me the vaccine to prevent problems, but there are going to be cases I've got to treat. Give me the tools. Give me the pills. Give me the substance," he said.
"The Dr. Oz Show" is slated to end Jan. 14.