Dr. Anthony Fauci said Friday that health experts are “cautiously optimistic” about a coronavirus vaccine that has just started the final stage of clinical trials, but warned that the pandemic will not go away anytime soon.
Fauci was on Capitol Hill to testify before the Coronavirus Crisis House Subcommittee on the country’s plan to combat COVID-19.
“While it is unclear how long the pandemic will last, COVID-19 activity will likely continue for some time,” Fauci, wearing a red, white and blue mask of the 2019 Washington Nationals World Series Champions, said in remarks. prepared.
He added: “We hope that by the time we arrive in late fall, early winter, we have a vaccine that we can say is safe and effective. We are cautiously optimistic that this will succeed. ”
Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Admiral Brett Giroir, undersecretary for Health and Human Services, will also testify.
“It is clear that the administration’s approach to deferring to states, misleading experts and rushing to reopen has prolonged this virus and caused thousands of preventable deaths,” said Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC), chair of the subcommittee, in his opening remarks. In fact, the United States’ response stands out among the worst of any country in the world.
“My question is, where should we go from here?”
Ranking member Rep. Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) repeatedly showed a huge pile of documents that he said were the Trump administration’s plan on how to reopen the country and schools safely.
He also criticized China for “lying” about the pandemic.
“We all know that China not only lied, but corrupted the World Health Organization,” said Scalise. “The Chinese community party did not let you [Fauci] when President Trump wanted to send medical experts to China before it spread to the United States. “Why don’t we have an audience on that?”
The United States leads the world with COVID-19 cases, with more than 4.4 million confirmed cases and 152,075 deaths as of Friday morning, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
On Thursday alone, more than 67,600 new cases were reported.
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