Indian-American Vivek Murthy, who is the US Surgeon- General, has revealed a saddening part of his life while he was campaigning against the misinformation and appealing to the Americans to get vaccinated for the COVID-19 pandemic. Murthy is the top doctor in the United States and he has said he lost as many as ten family members both in India and in the United States due to the viral infection. 

His shocking statement is one of the testaments of the pain endured by the frontline workers across the world to beat the pandemic. In his address of pressing the people to get vaccinated during the White House briefing, Murthy has on July 15 said he has lost ten family members. Murthy holds the post of US Surgeon-General for the second time and he has asked the people to receive the vaccine to prevent themselves from the deadly virus. 

 He said, "On a personal note, it's painful for me to know that nearly every death we are seeing now from COVID-19 could have been prevented. I say that as someone who has lost ten family members to COVID-19 and who wishes each and every day that they had the opportunity to get vaccinated. I see that also as a concerned father of two young children who aren't yet eligible for the vaccine, but I know that our kids are depending on all of us to get vaccinated to shield them from the virus." 

He said, "Every week, I talk to doctors and nurses across the country who are burning out as they care for more and more patients with COVID-19 who never got vaccinated, all too often because they were misled by misinformation." "We must confront misinformation as a nation. Every one of us has the power and the responsibility to make a difference in this fight. Lives are depending on it", Murthy had added. 

By citing that over 160 million Americans have taken the vaccines, the top US doctor has sounded that the country is yet to come out of the menace. He stated, "So far, 160 million Americans have been vaccinated. But we are not out of the woods yet. Millions of Americans are still not protected against COVID-19, and we are seeing more infections among those who are unvaccinated." He also had urged the people to be more cautious while sharing health information. 

He asked the people to share the health information with others by checking sources and ensure that the information is backed by credible scientific sources. He said, "As we say in the advisory if you are not sure, don't share. Second, we are asking health organizations to proactively address misinformation with their patients. Today, the American Academy of Pediatrics is announcing an educational campaign to help parents navigate online health information. I'm encouraged to see this commitment. Again, this is just the beginning."

He had urged the educational institutions to help improve health information literacy and said that the administration is also asking technology companies to operate with greater transparency and accountability. He added, "We are asking them to monitor misinformation more closely. We are asking them to consistently take action against misinformation super spreaders on their platforms." Vivek Murthy was born in Huddersfield, England to immigrants from Karnataka, India. 

44-year-old Murthy is an American Physician and vice admiral in the US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. He had served as the 19th US Surgeon General in the Obama administration and now, he has been serving as the 21st US Surgeon General under President Joe Biden. Murthy has co-chaired President-elect Joe Biden's COVID-19 Advisory Board from November 2020 to January 2021. Amid his service in the board, Biden has on December 7 announced that Murthy would return to the role of the surgeon general and he had officially assumed the post for the second time after US Senate has consented to his appointment.