Infectious-disease expert Fauci would take vaccine
The country’s infectious diseases expert says a large number of Americans will get a coronavirus vaccine by April, and he is planning to take it.
“When it gets approved by the FDA ... I would take the vaccine and I would recommend that my family take the vaccine,” Dr. Anthony Fauci told the USA TODAY editorial board Wednesday.
But he warned that the nation is far from being out of the woods, as infections continue to spike. New York City schools, the largest public system in the nation, announced Wednesday that they will halt in-person learning amid the latest surge in cases.
Fauci said that healthy everyday Americans can expect to get their first doses of an approved vaccine from April through July, after front-line workers and those at higher risk are inoculated in a process that could start by late December.
Within the past two weeks, two vaccine candidates have been shown to have more than 90% effectiveness, though they still need to gain approval from the Federal Drug Administration.
A return to pre-pandemic normalcy could be in the offing by the second half of next year if most of the country’s 330 million people are vaccinated by the summer and fall, Fauci said.
“Then you can start talking about this umbrella or blanket of protection on society that would diminish dramatically the risk of a person being exposed or even being infected,” he said. “When so many people are protected, that’s when you get into the real herd immunity.”
Fauci is urging caution as the U.S. endures a surge of cases that has strained health care systems in parts of the country and prompted several states to reimpose restrictions aimed at curbing the virus’ spread.
Wednesday marked the 16th consecutive day of more than 100,000 new infections being reported nationwide. The U.S. had not reached six figures in new cases before November, when it’s averaging more than 130,000 per day.
Fauci and other officials are particularly worried about next week’s Thanksgiving and the following holidays, traditionally a time of travel and gatherings with friends and relatives, events that can lead to infections. Experts urge people to avoid combining households, especially indoors, where poor ventilation makes it easier for the virus to linger and infect those in attendance.
“As we get into the colder weather, we should really think twice about these kind of dinner parties where you’re not sure of whether the people that are in your bubble (are safe),” Fauci said. “Then you’re going to start seeing these unanticipated infections related to innocent home gatherings, particularly as we head into the holiday season.”
Fauci recommends that each person make a risk-benefit assessment before deciding to travel during the holidays, and that they consider the dangers of going to a crowded airport and getting on a plane, as well as whether they have family members who are elderly or have underlying conditions that would put them at a higher risk of a serious outcome should they get infected.
“That should determine what your decision is about the risk you’re willing to take, because the risk of not traveling is less than the risk of traveling,” he said. “So you’ve got to decide, during this interesting period of a lot of infection going on, colder weather, indoors: Do you want to travel and go to a Thanksgiving meal where there may be 12, 15, 20 people?”
Fauci, the longtime director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has drawn the Trump administration’s ire for his blunt assessments of the country’s status in its response to the pandemic, which have often contradicted President Donald Trump’s rosy pronouncements.