© 2026 ABC News

\"Grey's\" showrunner Krista Vernoff previously spoke about why the ABC medical drama will touch on the COVID-19 pandemic.

\"PHOTO:
ABC
PHOTO: Ellen Pompeo in a scene from "Grey's Anatomy."
>

\"There's no way to be a long-running medical show and not do the medical story of our lifetimes,\" she shared during the Television Academy's \"Quaranstreaming: Comfort TV That Keeps Us Going\" panel in July.

After speaking will real doctors and medical professionals on the front lines, she said she felt the the show had \"an opportunity and a responsibility to tell some of those stories.\"

\"PHOTO:
ABC
PHOTO: Ellen Pompeo in a scene from "Grey's Anatomy."
>

The new season of \"Grey's Anatomy\" kicks off tonight with a two-hour premiere starting at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.

Check out a behind-the-scenes tour of the show's set from Kelly McCreary, who stars as Dr. Maggie Pierce in the ABC hospital drama, here.

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