Surgeon general: ‘Our enemy is the virus. It is not one another’

Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said on Sunday that Americans should focus on defeating the virus instead of turning on one another.

During an appearance on ABC’s “This Week,” Murthy told host George Stephanopoulos that he acknowledges people have expressed frustration over the ongoing pandemic and President Biden’s new vaccination mandates. 

“But what we cannot allow, George, is for this pandemic to turn us on each other. Our enemy is the virus. It is not one another,” Murthy told Stephanopoulos. “And what we have to do is approach this next phase of the pandemic response recognizing that we’ve got to listen to each other before we rush to judgment. We’ve got to support one another in our decisionmaking and during times of crisis.”  

.@Surgeon_General: “Our enemy is the virus. It is not one another. And what we have to do is approach this next phase of the pandemic response recognizing … we’ve got to support one another in our decision making and during times of crisis.” https://t.co/TYSJPTF5Jy pic.twitter.com/MdXBakoFv8

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) September 12, 2021

Murthy’s comments come as GOP-led states voice criticism over the Biden administration’s mandate that all private employers with 100 or more employees must require COVID-19 vaccines or weekly testing.

Murthy defended Biden’s new mandate, saying that the administration is looking for measures to implement to decrease cases.

“I do think that the series of measures taken here present a strong step forward and they will ultimately help protect our communities. And that is the single goal here. It’s to protect us from COVID-19. It’s to help us get through this, keep our kids in school, keep our economy going and give us the peace of mind that so many people have desperately wanted since this pandemic began,” Murthy said.