joined by dr. georges benjamin. i want to start with ba.5, the dominant covid variant. 65% of infections as of last weekend. what do we know about ba.5, what don't we know and how concerned should we be about this one? guest: this virus continues to evolve. the bad news is that this is one of the most infection variant s. we are not seeing a marked uptick in hospitalizations or debt. the uptake of infection means we need to double down on other things that were. host: most infectious among vaccinated people, what about people who have had covid before? guest: people who are unvaccinated are most at risk. this current strain of ba.5, and ba.4 by the way, can also infect and re-infect people who are vaccinated. the vaccine is very protective, but we are seeing people get reinfected. host: when it comes to doubling down on protection, what are we talking about here? are we talking about going back to masking in public. are we talking about another pound of boosters and when is that going to be available for those who it is not been made a priority yet? guest: first of all, everyone who has not been vaccinated needs to get vaccinated. i encourage people to get fully vaccinated with the primary series and that includes the first booster. for those people, age 50 above, you should get a second booster. get your full vaccine series. that is the first thing everyone should do. the second thing is, continue washing your hands and wear the mask when appropriate. when i go through airports, i have my mask around my neck. i put it on when i think it is appropriate to put it on. when i am around people who i don't know their vaccination status. and using those self tests when appropriate. if i get sniffles, i self tests. if i am going to go around anybody that i am concerned about with underlying medical conditions i get checked. encouraging testing, vaccination and mask wearing, which is the staple of our response to covid. host: there was a comment in washington post, rising cases should not prompt calls for most americans to hunker down or re- impose restrictions. it is reasonable for people traveling, but for most people it will be a mild illness. government imposed restrictions should be reserved for dire emergencies which we are not an right now. officials should scale up prevention methods and ventilation. guest: this disease is becoming endemic in our society and we will have to live with it. it means get vaccinated, wearing a mask and testing liberally. host: here are the numbers for viewers to join. (202) 748-8000 if you are in the eastern or central time zones, (202) 748-8001 if you are and the mountain or pacific time zones. what are we learning about the future path of covid when looking at these variants that have developed. guest: one of the most likely futures is that we will get vaccinated