• Why COVID-19 affects so many different organs — According to his analysis, the spike protein attaches wherever ACE2 receptors exist, which include blood vessels throughout your body. Soon-Shiong connects this to symptoms people report after getting the infection or the shot, including brain fog, gut problems, pancreatic issues, and heart trouble.

• The most serious concern is persistence — Research groups, including ones at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), have shown that parts of the virus remain in the body long after the initial illness, and that key immune defenders can go inactive.

When Carlson points out that billions of people were exposed, Soon-Shiong calls the situation “frightening” and says clearing the virus and stopping long-term inflammation is essential. He says persistence can last three to four years, and notes that chronic inflammation often causes no obvious symptoms, citing roughly 15 million Americans living with long COVID.

• Why Soon-Shiong never got infected — When asked if he ever got COVID-19, Soon-Shiong said that he didn’t. He credits this protection to a strong internal defense response rather than luck or isolation. Based on his own testing, his body already had a type of immune memory that recognized a core part of the virus. He says this response allowed the virus to clear quickly instead of settling in.

• Soon-Shiong took COVID-19 seriously before most people did — In early 2020, he had a conversation with California Governor Gavin Newsom, saying that COVID-19 was not just a respiratory illness but something far more dangerous. He says he shut down his organization and redirected everything toward COVID-19 research, treating it as a once-in-a-generation threat that demanded full focus.

• A core belief about protection — Clearing SARS-CoV-2 requires more than antibodies. Soon-Shiong says the only way to get better is through deeper immune optimization, and he criticizes the antibody-only mindset.

• Claims of direct interference — Soon-Shiong says he was offered a government role, declined it, and later learned of internal emails meant to block him from leadership at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He also says efforts to test his product as a booster were stopped without clear explanation, and that access to key lab materials was restricted.

• When oversight and money collide — The conversation turns to how drugs and treatments are reviewed in the United States. Specifically, Carlson asks why the same companies that sell drugs also fund the people who review them, leading the system to become biased.

Soon-Shiong agrees with Carlson’s concern and pushes it further. He says the problem worsens when this structure blocks new ideas from smaller companies. In his view, we have a system that favors familiar products and familiar players, while outsiders with different approaches struggle to get heard.

• An insight into the regulatory process — Large drug companies pay major “user fees” to regulators, and that money helps cover the salaries of reviewers. Soon-Shiong argues this setup rewards small tweaks to existing drugs rather than real breakthroughs, because safe, familiar changes move faster and protect existing revenue. For smaller biotech groups, he says, the same system creates delays and barriers that slow progress.

• Medical research in America is being left behind — Soon-Shiong warns that China is moving faster in biomedical innovation and says companies like AstraZeneca are investing there specifically “for innovation.” He calls for a serious revamp of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), with reviewers trained in modern science and open to new approaches. He frames this shift as a chance for a true reset — a period where patient outcomes matter more than profit.

• The central role of your immune system against cancer — Soon-Shiong centers his response on a group of immune defenders he says are often ignored, such as NK cells, which are ancient parts of your immune system yet were only recognized by modern medicine in the 1970s. He describes them as a frontline defense that responds quickly when your body senses trouble, and he says supporting their activity matters more than most people realize.

• Why proper sleep is a vital foundation of immunity — Soon-Shiong explains that your NK cells recharge when you sleep, and without enough rest, that renewal never fully happens. He then talks about light exposure, explaining that certain types of light, including red light, stimulate immune activity. He ties this to why illness and low mood rise in winter, when people spend less time outdoors.

• Diet is the next pillar — Whole foods support your immune system, while toxins and additives in ultraprocessed foods push your body toward constant stress.

• Doctors are looking at the wrong things — Most clinicians zero in on anemia, platelets, and neutrophils, then prescribe drugs or transfusions to fix those numbers. Soon-Shiong argues that while these steps support the body during treatment, they do not cure cancer. He claims the cells that actually eliminate cancer are barely discussed on everyday oncology visits, even though they appear in the same blood test under a broad label that gets little attention.

• Many standard cancer treatments weaken the very defenses needed to prevent relapse — Chemotherapy, radiation, steroids, and even newer immune drugs suppress or damage key cancer-fighting cells, creating a “win the battle, lose the war” pattern. In Soon-Shiong’s view, this explains why tumors often return after an initial response.

Soon-Shiong likens the fight against cancer to a moving target, not a one-step fix. He says the practical challenge is like a chess game, where you expose what’s hiding, boost the cells that attack, and lower the forces that shut those attacks down at the right times. He also takes a shot at the way modern medicine is organized, claiming key fields are siloed and don’t talk to each other, which he says leads to missed connections and weaker strategy.

• Soon-Shiong’s own strategy — When Carlson asks what Soon-Shiong would do if diagnosed with cancer tomorrow, he outlines his personal approach. He says the goal is to expose hidden cancer cells without wiping out your defenses, activate and train your body’s killers at the same time, and shut down forces that block them.

He emphasizes outpatient care and less suffering, and he describes a future where a patient’s own blood cells are expanded, stored, and reused, comparing it to an “American Red Cross of cancer.”

1. Minimize seed oil intake — Not just because it’s inflammatory, but because of what it does to one of the most vital parts of your cells: cardiolipin. This specialized fat lives in your mitochondria and plays a key role in keeping those energy producers functioning properly. Cardiolipin stabilizes mitochondrial membranes, supports efficient energy production, and helps regulate mitophagy — the cleanup and recycling of damaged mitochondria.

But cardiolipin is vulnerable to oxidation. And linoleic acid (LA), a highly unstable omega-6 fat found in soybean, corn, cottonseed, and safflower oils, is especially prone to oxidative damage. When you eat too much LA, it gets incorporated into your cardiolipin, making your mitochondria fragile and dysfunctional. That means less energy, more inflammation, and faster aging at the cellular level.

Aim to keep your daily LA intake under 5 grams. If you can get it below 2 grams, you’re giving your mitochondria a serious upgrade. The Mercola Health Coach app, which will be available soon, includes a feature called the Seed Oil Sleuth. It makes tracking your LA intake easy — calculating it down to a tenth of a gram. For now, you can use food labels and trusted databases, but the app will streamline the process once it launches.

2. Minimize exposure to harmful chemicals — If you’re constantly microwaving your food in plastic, touching printed receipts, or working a job that exposes you to toxic chemicals, immune function becomes disrupted. That’s because these chemicals enter your bloodstream, so make sure to protect yourself properly. For in-depth tips, read “Insecticide Exposure Could Impair Mental Function in Older Adults.”

3. Spend time outdoors and optimize your sleep habits — If your job has you staying up late while being glued to screens the whole day, your immune system hasn’t been properly recharging and working.

Just like your everyday routines, your immune system also has a body clock, which resets when exposed to natural light. Also, try sleeping at the same time each night in a cool, completely dark room. Even missing an hour or two of sleep can already affect your defenses.

4. Don’t get any more COVID-19 boosters — You need to end further assault on your health. If you’ve already developed an adverse event due to these shots, the next section has some more strategies to help you recover.

• Protocols that put recovery at the center — I recommend you go over the I-RECOVER program by the Independent Medical Alliance (IMA), formerly known as the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC). It contains in-depth instructions about treating long COVID² and post-vaccine injuries.³

• Minimize electromagnetic field (EMF) exposure — Research shows that everyday EMF sources, such as your Wi-Fi router “can disturb the homeostasis of free radicals leading to dysfunctions such as the ‘cellular stress response.'”⁴ For an extensive list of EMF reduction techniques, read “10 Studies Detail Health Risks of 5G.”

• Optimize your vitamin D levels — Research shows that vitamin D deficiency is linked to an increased risk of cancer.⁵ In a previous article, I also showed how vitamin D helps prevent respiratory infections, which includes COVID-19.

I recommend that you increase your vitamin D levels to a range between 60 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL) for optimal health. The best way to achieve this is through sun exposure; however, it would be wise to do it properly, especially if you’ve been eating a diet high in seed oils.

When sunlight hits your skin, LA oxidizes, leading to inflammation and skin damage. To avoid this, avoid high-intensity sun exposure (mid-day sun) until you’ve lowered your LA intake for six months or more. For a deeper explanation regarding this complex interplay, read “The Fast-Track Path to Clearing Vegetable Oils from Your Skin.”