Fauci, a member of the White House coronavirus task force, told CNN’s David Axelrod on the “The Ax Files” podcast that the companies behind the possible vaccines told him “they would have billions of doses in early year, and up to hundreds of millions as we go into 2021, and some companies say that even after a while, it could take up to a billion doses. “
“The timetable he suggested for reaching 2021 well into the year, so I can think of a successful vaccine, if we could vaccinate the overwhelming majority of the population, we could start talking about real normalcy again,” Fauci added. “But it is going to be a gradual process.”
Early results from a Phase 1/2 trial, closely watched and published Monday in The Lancet, suggest that a coronavirus vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca is safe and induces an immune response. However, the researchers emphasized that more studies are needed to find out if the vaccine protects people against the virus.
AstraZeneca said at a hearing in the United States Congress on Tuesday that he is on track to have a possible vaccine ready as early as September. But hours later, the head of the UK vaccine working group warned that a vaccine is unlikely to be widely available before 2021. Meanwhile, other company executives said they had the goal in early 2021.
The US Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Defense announced an agreement with Pfizer Inc. on Wednesday for “the large-scale production and nationwide delivery of 100 million doses of a Covid vaccine – 19 in the United States “after it is successfully Developed and approved.
If the vaccine is successful and receives authorization or emergency use license, nationwide delivery would begin in the fourth quarter of 2020, according to HHS. The doses would be shipped to locations at the address of the US government and made available to Americans at no cost, according to a statement.
Fauci also emphasized Thursday that he has “a very good relationship” with President Donald Trump, despite his contradictory positions on numerous elements of the coronavirus response.
“I am doing everything possible to stay completely out of politics. But when you are in a politically charged situation, it is a little difficult not to be completely affected,” he said. “I stay away from any personal involvement in politics, but I try to do my job. But I am aware of the tension.”
Fauci continued: “The only interesting thing that I think people don’t appreciate is that I have a very good relationship with the President, in the sense that I don’t have animosity. In fact, it’s a pretty good relationship.”
Their assessment comes after CNN previously reported that in early June, Trump and Fauci had stopped participating in person. Earlier this month, the White House made a concerted effort to discredit Fauci as he became increasingly vocal about his concerns about reopening the country amid a national surge in coronavirus cases. A White House official told CNN that “several White House officials are concerned about the number of times Dr. Fauci was wrong about things,” and then provided a long list of examples, citing Fauci’s comments. at the beginning of the pandemic and linking interviews to the past
Additionally, senior White House trade official Peter Navarro apparently broke protocol by publishing an op-ed that smashed Fauci last week, with the White House working to distance itself from the piece, which contained similar views. to the opinions expressed by Trump himself and distributed by the White House. during the previous weekend.
Fauci referred to the White House’s efforts to belittle him, saying “it wasn’t right. I think it is really bad news to do that,” but he stated his confidence that Trump himself did not support them.
When Axelrod asked if he had said so much to the President, Fauci replied, “I think it’s pretty clear in the White House that that’s the situation. I don’t think the President is happy in that respect in some respects either. I can tell you personally he’s not happy with that “
CNN’s Naomi Thomas, Kristen Holmes, Kaitlan Collins, Kevin Liptak, Becky Anderson, Anna Gorzkowska and Mohammed Al-Saiegh contributed to this report.
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