When Anthony Fauci
Anthony FauciTrump says he cannot guarantee the safety of the school in the midst of a pandemic: “Can you assure someone of something?” Night Health Care: Vaccine Race Faces Huge Distribution Challenges | Critical points are alleviated, but authorities say normal is far away | Birx recommends face shields with masks. Hill’s Coronavirus Report: iBIO President and CEO Thomas Isett says developing a safe vaccine is paramount; The United States exceeds 150,000 coronavirus deaths with approximately one death per minute PLUS, the country’s leading infectious disease doctor, testified before Congress a month ago, the United States has just set a record with 48,000 new cases of coronavirus in a single day.
Now, the country has an average of almost 65,000 new cases per day. Outbreaks in the south appear to be stabilizing, but troubling trends are emerging in the midwest. And the death toll across the country recently surpassed 150,000, an unthinkable number that will only increase as the pandemic continues.
But when Fauci and other top health officials testified before Congress on Friday, they gave a hopeful tone about the prospects for a COVID-19 vaccine, faster testing and control of the virus, as long as Americans are vigilant about wearing masks and avoiding crowds. .
Here are five conclusions from Friday’s hearing before the House Select Subcommittee on the Response to Coronavirus, chaired by Whip James Clyburn (DS.C.).
Fauci seems more optimistic about vaccine prospects
Fauci, who heads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said he was “cautiously optimistic” that a vaccine would be approved by the end of the year and widely distributed throughout 2021.
“There is never a guarantee that you will get a safe and effective vaccine, but from all that we have seen now in the animal data, as well as the first human data, we are cautiously optimistic that we will have a vaccine by the end of this year. year and entering 2021, “said Fauci.
Moderna, in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Just Launched its phase three trial for a possible COVID-19 vaccine, the phase that will help determine if it is safe and effective.
There are dozens of candidate vaccines, including five or six with which the federal government is involved, Fauci said. She added that more than 250,000 people have expressed interest in participating in vaccine trials.
Fauci, who is a member of the White House coronavirus task force, tried to assure Democrats that security would not be compromised in the race to find an effective vaccine.
“Historically, the [Food and Drug Administration] he has based his decisions on science. They will do it this time, ”he said.
The federal government is paying billions of dollars to various pharmaceutical companies to make millions of vaccines before they are proven to be safe and effective, hoping to allow a vaccine to be distributed quickly if the FDA approves it.
Testing delays persist but improvements are in store
Commercial labs have struggled due to increased demand for outbreak-created COVID-19 tests in the south and west. Admiral Brett Giroir, the health official who leads the Trump administration’s testing strategy, said a two or three-day response time for all test results is currently not possible, raising concerns about effectiveness. contact tracking.
About 75 percent of the test results return in five days, he said.
“If you have to wait several days to get a test result, and the test is done in the context of contact tracing, that in many ways obviates the purpose of doing it,” Fauci said. “Because if you have to wait that long, a person has already been in the community in that period of time.”
Giroir said the “future” of testing is point-of-care testing that does not need to be sent to laboratories and can return results in approximately 15 minutes.
Expanding point-of-care testing could also reduce stress in laboratories, he said.
On Friday, NIH announced that it would award contracts to seven companies to expand point-of-care test manufacturing that could “significantly” expand the nation’s testing capacity in early September.
Fauci rejects the hydroxychloroquine study promoted by Trump
A study that appears to show that hydroxychloroquine is an effective treatment with COVID-19 is “flawed,” Fauci told a questioning member of Congress.
The study, conducted by Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, has been promoted by President Trump
Donald John Trump Trump campaign cancels purchase of ads to review messaging strategy: Nunes report declines to respond if it received information from Ukraine lawmaker meant to harm Biden poll: plurality of ‘Generation Z’ voters says who see more Trump political announcements than Biden MORE and conservatives as proof that the antimalarial drug can treat coronavirus.
But the study was not controlled and retrospective, Fauci said, opening it to possible bias. Patients also received corticosteroids, which have been shown to reduce death in COVID-19 patients, further clouding the effects of hydroxychloroquine.
“That study is flawed,” said Fauci.
When the representative Blaine Luetkemeyer
William (Blaine) Blaine Luetkemeyer Yellen, Bernanke urge Congress to extend the increase in unemployment benefits. Scalise criticizes Democrats for asking certain companies to repay PPP loans. (R-Mo.) Stepping in to say that the study was peer-reviewed, Fauci replied, “It doesn’t matter. You can peer review something that is a bad study. “
Hydroxychloroquine studies that have followed the gold standards in clinical research to reduce bias have shown that the drug is not effective in treating COVID-19, Fauci added.
“All of the randomized, placebo-controlled trials that have looked at it have not shown efficacy, so I just have to go with the data,” Fauci said. “I don’t have a horse in the game in one way or another. I just looked at the data.
Republicans, CDC voice support to reopen schools
Rep. Steve Scalise
Stephen (Steve) Joseph ScaliseTrump is wrong on the census note, but he has a point where Trump beats Democrats ‘Stone Cold’ for pressing to undo the travel ban The Battle of Cheney raises questions about the future of House GOP Louisiana, the top Republican on the committee, sought to bolster Trump’s calls to reopen schools this fall by getting the Director of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Robert Redfield, to emphasize the need for get the kids back to the classrooms.
“Do you think schools should safely reopen this fall with in-person learning?” Scalise asked.
“Yes, I think it is important to realize that it is in the best public health interest of K-12 students to return to face-to-face learning,” Redfield replied. “There are really very important public health consequences of closing the school.”
Scalise added: “I hope that these school systems follow the directions of President Trump and these excellent doctors and help those children to reopen safely.”
Some public health experts have criticized CDC for what they see as the agency’s political push to reopen schools, echoing Trump’s wishes. While all the experts are on the same page regarding the importance of opening schools, some point out that it may not be possible if there is too much transmission in the surrounding community and if the schools do not have the resources to invest in security measures.
Rep. Jamie Raskin
Jamin (Jamie) Ben RaskinRepublic Party lawmakers fulfill Pelosi’s mask mandate to take home the fifth floor to go as panel questions technology CEOs Lawmakers face off at tech antitrust hearing: the mask!” PLUS (D-Md.) He asked Fauci to respond to Trump’s claim that children are “almost immune.”
“Are children infected? Yes, they do, “Fauci replied, adding that” hundreds of thousands “of children have been infected.
Conservatives take a combative approach toward Fauci
Conservative representative Jim Jordan
James (Jim) Daniel JordanHillicon Valley: House Panel Questions Technology CEOs During Long-Antitrust Hearing | TikTok will make the code public as it rejects ‘disinformation’ | House Intel panel expands access to evidence of foreign disinformation Five conclusions as panel interrogates Pelosi technology CEOs to require masks on house floor MORE (R-Ohio), a close ally of Trump, took the more combative approach by questioning Fauci.
Jordan sought to engage Fauci in what some conservatives see as a double standard: progressives and some public health experts who support the limits of public gatherings while supporting the Black Lives Matter protests that gather thousands of people.
However, Fauci did not address the protests directly, saying more broadly: “Avoid crowds of any kind, no matter where you are … I don’t judge a crowd against another crowd.”
While it is difficult to know with certainty the extent of the effect of the protests in the recent outbreaks, there have been no clear peaks in the cases in cities that have had protests.
However, Jordan pressured Fauci to address the protests and asked, “So the protests don’t increase the spread of the virus?”
“I didn’t say that, you’re putting words in my mouth,” replied Fauci.
Taking a different direction, Scalise got Fauci to record endorsement of some of Trump’s decisions about the COVID-19 crisis, including banning China travelers, a move Trump often cites in defending his response.
“Do you agree with that decision?” Scalise asked.
“Yes,” replied Fauci.
“Do you think that decision saved lives, Dr. Fauci?” Scalise said.
“Yes, I do,” Fauci replied.
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