putin s forces invaded ukraine. forcing millions of innocent civilians from their homes killing tens of thousands, threatening the world s food sup pry, the security strity struct up ending the global economy. the u.s. announced the largest aid package yet worth $3 billion and ukraine marks 31 years since it declared independence. this morning president zelenskyy says his nation is reborn standing in front of a burned out and destroyed russian tank in kyiv. let s begin coverage with david mckenzie live in ukraine s capital with this major moment. what are you seeing and hearing there? so many reflection of six months of war. reporter: it s extraordinary. look at the people from behind me gathering. they re ignoring warnings from the president and others to say there is the risk of possible missile strikes here in the capital and across the country. several times today, we ve heard in fact, kate, those sirens going off warning people about a possible strike. i think the mood
the ba.4 and ba.5 only con variants. ba.5 accounts for nearly 90% of all new covid cases in the united states. joining me now is dr. topal. good to see you. what is your reaction to this plan to roll this out as soon as possible and what it could mean. are we going with this new these new vaccines, we will see less infections? well, that s a good question. we just don t know. as you pointed out, kate, with 90% of the cases ba.5, this is going to be a vaccine directed to that for the first time. it s the first update vaccine since the beginning of the whole pandemic. so, in that respect, it s good. it shows the fda is quite agile. a lot of uncertainties. the only data we have for this specific vaccine so far is in mice.
news about the possibility of requiring vaccinations to get on domestic flights, to fly within the united states as a way to ensure safety, better ensure safety, and also, quite frankly, to probably convince more people to get vaccinated. let me play that for you. have you considered requiring passengers in this country to be vaccinated to get on flights? it s been considered but the recommendation i have gotten it s not necessary. even with omicron? even with omicron. that s the recommendation i got, so far, from the team. dr. reiner, what do you think of that? hi, kate. first of all, it s an honor to be on tonight with dr. topal, a cardiologist that i who i have admired for 30 years. i think the president is wrong. first of all, we require international passengers to travel who are traveling to the united states to be vaccinated. it s completely mysterious to
domestic air travel. and i know, dr. topal, that you have been looking into this, leaning into this, um, and talking about this, as well. dr. reiner is spot on about that. that s one of the many things that we could be doing to really change the face of the pandemic in the u.s. but we aren t seeing these bold and aggressive actions. but there are many points of good news, kate. i mean, this pill is going to be the most important thing that s happened since vaccines in terms of being able to easily administer it, not dependent on our immune system. it s it s safe. it s safe as placebo in two trials and has a marked effect on reducing the viral load in a person with covid by at least tenfold very quickly. so, that s a whole new tool to add to our ability to fight the virus and and also, the other big thing today is we are learning scotland, england, denmark, and south africa, all, are showing at least 40 to 70%
are losing hope. and it s really unfortunate that we could have beaten it, and now consensus seems to be that we need to live with it. now there is optimism that in the virus s favor if it s a milder variant, we don t know that for sure but if it really is milder, as dr. topal was saying earlier on your show, then it s possible that it becomes kind of like what the spanish flu became. eventually, an endemic rather than a pandemic. but the flu stinks, too. i don t want to get the flu. and so, in that situation now where it may become seasonal but until we get to that point, it is going to be really rough on hospitals and, yeah, personally, even if i feel normally, i was just telling somebody earlier today that every time i go to my d dentist s office, he asks me what are you doing to your teeth? and turns out, the stress is so bad that i am grinding my teeth away. and i feel i have actually gotten pretty lucky on this p pandemic being able to work with