Surgeon General Vivek Murthy Says 'Our Enemy is the Virus,' Not 'One Another'

Landon Mion | September 12, 2021 2:45 PM

Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said Sunday that Americans should refrain from rushed judgement and attacking each other and instead focus on defeating the coronavirus.

During an interview with George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s "This Week," Murthy said while many people are angry due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the administration's virus protocol, turning against each other is not the answer.

"What we cannot allow, George, is for this pandemic to turn us on each other," Murthy said. "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 listen to each other before we rush to judgment and we’ve got to support one another in our decision making 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

"I do think that this series of measures taken here present a strong step forward and they will ultimately help protect our communities," he said. "And that is the single goal here. It’s to protect us from COVID-19, it’s helped 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."