Dr. Anthony Fauci says he would “settle” for a coronavirus vaccine that is 70 to 75 percent effective, but warned that the United States may not achieve mass immunity against contagion if too many people refuse to be vaccinated, according to a report.
“The best thing we have done is measles, which is 97 to 98 percent effective,” the leading US infectious disease expert told CNN. “That would be wonderful if we got there. I don’t think we will. I would settle for [a] 70.75 percent effective vaccine. “
Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, noted that incomplete protection and the fact that many people say they will skip the vaccine make it “unlikely” that the nation will achieve sufficient immunity to stop the outbreak.
A recent CNN poll found that a third of Americans said they wouldn’t try to get vaccinated, even if it’s widely available and inexpensive.
Herd immunity is achieved when a sufficient percentage of a population is immune to an infectious disease, either by previous disease or vaccination.
In the next three months, three vaccines are expected to be studied in major clinical trials, but “there is a general anti-science, anti-authority and anti-vaccine sentiment among some people in this country,” an alarmingly large percentage of people. , relatively speaking, “said Fauci.
Given the influence of anti-vaxxers, he added: “We have a lot of work to do” to educate people about the truth about vaccines.
“It won’t be easy,” said Fauci, a member of the White House task force on the pandemic.
“No one [who] think it will be easy not face reality. It will be very difficult “.
He said the government has a vaccine education program to spread the message.
“We have a program right now that is going to be extensive to reach out to the community,” he said.
“They may not like a government person in a suit like me to tell them, even if I tell them. They really need to see people they can relate to in the community: sports figures, community heroes, people they admire. ”
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which administers various federal health education programs, referred CNN to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which is leading the House effort White to develop a vaccine.
HHS spokesman Michael Caputo did not confirm the existence of a vaccine education campaign, adding in an email that he “would hate to see CNN [a] tremendously wrong story. “
When asked what grade he would give the United States for managing the pandemic, Fauci said, “Some states will be A +.” Some are going to be A and some are going to be C somewhere, “he said, pointing out to New York that he did” really well. “
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