The United States is “unlikely” to achieve collective immunity to the coronavirus even with a vaccine, according to the country’s leading public health expert, who cautioned that a “general sentiment against science, authority and the vaccine” can frustrate efforts vaccination.
In an interview with CNN, Dr. Anthony Fauci also said that people who did not wear masks were “a recipe for disaster” and said of the Trump administration’s attempts to locate contacts: “I don’t think we are doing very well. “
The United States reported a record number of new coronavirus cases in a single day on Friday, with 36 states reporting an increase in infections and Texas, Florida and Arizona particularly affected. With more than 2.5 million coronavirus cases and more than 125,000 deaths, the US accounts for approximately 25% of all coronavirus cases and deaths worldwide.
Countries like the United States are struggling to develop a vaccine, and Fauci has said that it could be available by the end of 2020 or the beginning of 2021. But he suggested that the vaccine would not be fully effective.
“The best thing we have done is measles, which is 97% to 98% effective,” Fauci told CNN. “That would be wonderful if we got there. I don’t think we will. I would settle for [a] 70%, 75% effective vaccine. “
Surveys have shown that many Americans are skeptical of a vaccine. In May, only half of Americans said they would get one if it were available, while a Washington Post survey showed that 27% would likely reject a vaccine.
Fauci was asked if the herd’s immunity could be achieved through two-thirds of the population taking a vaccine that was only 70% to 75% effective.
“No, unlikely,” he said.
“There is a general anti-science, anti-authority and anti-vaccine sentiment among some people in this country: an alarmingly large percentage of people, in relative terms,” Fauci said, adding that the government has “a lot of work to do.” To educate people about vaccines.
Tracking contacts, the act of monitoring people who have come into contact with someone infected with the coronavirus, is considered one of the most effective measures until a vaccine is developed. When asked how the United States is performing in contact tracing, Fauci said: “I don’t think we are doing very well.
“If you go into the community and call and say, ‘How’s contact tracking going?’ The dots are not connected because much of it is done over the phone. You make a contact, 50% of the people, because you come from an authority and you don’t even want to talk to you ”.
Responding to people’s resistance to wearing masks, Fauci said it was “a recipe for disaster” and said that some states had reopened too quickly.
“There are some states where leadership and decision [to open up] it was a bit hasty, ”he said. “There are others when the leaders did well, but the public did not listen to them.”
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