Dr. FRED BUCKHOLD, SLU Care general internist at SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital. What are the new outdoor mask guidelines released earlier this week by the CDC for those who are fully vaccinated?  Dr. Buckhold says if  you are fully vaccinated and in a public open space, you do not need to wear a mask.  Outside dining with other vaccinated people, you don't need a mask.  But larger outdoor events like a concert or a sporting event where there are a lot of people, you need to wear a mask.  More than a hundred colleges and universities will now require the COVID vaccine to attend classes -- including Wash U.  Dr. Buckhold is okay with that.  He says vaccinations to enter an educational facility are already mandated in some cases - like measles and meningitis.  Pfizer CEO says a pill to treat COVID 19 may be available by years end.  Dr. Buckhold says that pill would be used when you start to have symptoms to prevent the virus from growing in the body.  He'd like to see the study first before he will say this will be helpful in a public health perspective.  But he says it is a good idea.  The FDA is moving to ban menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars.  Dr. Buckhold says smoking contributes to all kinds of illnesses.  He favors banning cigarettes altogether, but says this is a good move because there is no upside to smoking. 

Dr. HILARY BABCOCK, a Washington University infectious diseases physician at Barnes Jewish Hospital.  The CDC and the FDA have lifted the temporary pause on the Johnson and Johnson vaccine.  Dr. Babcock says that's a good thing because the J&J vaccine is a very good vaccine, very convenient -- and shows the FDA and the CDC are closely monitoring the safety of all vaccines.  She calls it a very safe vaccine but says there is a very small but real risk for women between 18 and 49 of getting a blood clot when getting this vaccine so choose another vaccine if one is available.  But if not, she says take the J&J vaccine.  Your risk of getting COVID is much higher than of getting a blood clot.  She's worried about vaccinations slowing over the past week.  Says vaccines are now readily available in many cases on a walk-in basis.  The more we are vaccinated, she says, the more we can get back to the new normal. Dr. Babcock says the second dose of the two dose vaccines is really important.  It will help increase your protection and the length of immunity.  Worried about side effects?  Dr. Babcock says that shouldn't stop you from getting the vaccine.  Only ten percent will have a low grade fever or chills, but most, she says, may just have a sore arm for a day or so and then it goes away. 

Dr. KRISHNA KANAKADANDILA, anesthesiologist with SSM Health. The COVID 19 crisis in India continues to grow worse.  Dr. Krishna is a native of India, still has family there and frequently visits his homeland.  Situation there is pretty bad he says.  Lots of reasons why - including a new strain of the virus is there.  Death counts are probably four to five times higher than the official count.  He says India flattened the curve in February and March and everyone relaxed and stopped wearing their masks.   He says 186 million people voted -- lots of people getting out and spreading the virus.  He says cricket is very popular there and tens of thousands go out to watch international matches without wearing masks.  He says another contributing factor was a recent religious festival where 2.5 million people took a dip in the river with the government approval.  1.3 billion people in India.  The whole system has collapsed, he says, no beds in the hospitals, no ventilators, no oxygen.  New Delhi had 36-percent of its inhabitants testing positive for COVID.  Government building make-shift crematoriums to burn the bodies...also using stadiums.   Dr. Krishna is from south India.  His mother is safe now, got her first AstraZeneca vaccine -- supplied by Great Britain.  She hasn't been outside her home in six months and wears a mask even inside her home.  ​