Most Americans probably won’t be able to get a Covid-19 vaccine until mid-2021, says CDC director

(CNN) – Anyone who thinks that a vaccine will quickly end the coronavirus pandemic should have no illusions. Instead, they should wear a mask, which is likely even more effective, said the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

While a “very limited supply” of a Covid-19 vaccine could be ready in November or December, “it will have to be prioritized,” CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield told a subcommittee on assignments on Wednesday. Senate.

“They will be the first responders and the ones most at risk of death, and then eventually that will expand,” he said.

“If you ask me when it will be available to the American public, so that we can begin to take advantage of the vaccine to get back to our normal lives, I think we are probably looking at the third quarter, late in the second quarter, third quarter of 2021.”

On top of that, “to get enough of us immunized and have immunity, I think it will take six to nine months,” he said.

Mistrust of vaccines remains a problem

Then there’s the problem that needs to be addressed urgently: people who are hesitant to get the vaccine, National Institutes of Health director Dr. Francis Collins said Wednesday.

“Those who doubt vaccines have seen their hesitancy heightened by a variety of things that are happening right now, particularly the unfortunate combination of science and politics,” Collins said at an event hosted by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. .

A recent survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that more than half of those surveyed (54%) said they would not receive the vaccine if it were available for free before the November 3 presidential election. Following party lines, 60% of Republicans and 56% of independents said they would not. Half of Democrats said they would.

“I don’t want us to have a conversation a year from now about how we have the solution to the worst pandemic in more than 100 years in our hands, but we haven’t been able to convince people to take charge of it,” Collins said.

And mistrust of government agencies is hampering surveillance for the spread of Covid-19, said Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.

“It is very challenging in many areas today, where we are seeing people who do not want to participate in any kind of follow-up regarding surveillance, due to their mistrust of the government and the public health system,” c said during a webinar from the American Public Health Association.

Surveillance helps public health officials by gathering information on infected people, such as where they were exposed and who they have been in contact with, and the course of their illness.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease official, said that the variability in how the coronavirus affects people has helped fuel misunderstandings about who can spread the virus and when.

At least 40% of patients have no symptoms, while some remain ill for months, Fauci said.

“One of the things that we are dealing with in this country is a real lack of understanding of the importance of everyone trying to prevent infection rather than inadvertently spreading the outbreak …” Fauci said during a virtual panel sponsored by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute.

Of all the viral illnesses and emerging infections that he has encountered throughout his career, Fauci said that he had “never seen anything with a rank” like this virus.

“It is completely unique to see that degree of variability of a single microbe, which means that there are things that are determining it, that we still do not understand at this point,” he said.

Masks are a ‘powerful’ tool, Redfield said

But Redfield said the Americans already have a weapon that he thinks might be more effective against Covid-19: face masks.

“These masks are the most important and powerful public health tool we have,” said Redfield, holding up a blue mask.

“If we did it for six, eight, 10, 12 weeks, we would control this pandemic,” he said.

“I could even go so far as to say that this mask has more guarantees of protecting me against Covid than when I take a Covid vaccine, because the immunogenicity can be 70%. And if I don’t get an immune response, the vaccine is not going to protect me. mask yes it will. “

Yet time and again, people get together and socialize without wearing face masks, sometimes leading to tragic results.

More than 6.6 million people have been infected with Covid-19 in the US and more than 196,000 have died, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

7 deaths from coronavirus are linked to 1 wedding

A wedding in Maine is linked to 176 cases of Covid-19 and the deaths of seven people who did not attend the celebration, demonstrating how easily and quickly the coronavirus can spread at social gatherings, health experts say. public.

For months, doctors have emphasized the importance of wearing masks, social distancing, and avoiding large gatherings.

But the outbreaks have stemmed from Memorial Day events, 4th of July celebrations and a large motorcycle rally in Sturgis, South Dakota.

The Millinocket wedding on Aug. 7 had about 65 guests, a violation of the 50-person state limit for indoor events, the Maine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

The event is related to outbreaks that have developed in a nursing home and a jail, both more than 100 miles away from the wedding venue, among people who only had secondary or tertiary contact with an attendant.

Residents at Maplecrest Rehabilitation and Living Center accounted for 39 wedding-related cases and six of the seven deaths thus far, said Maine CDC Director Dr. Nirav D. Shah.

“The virus favors meetings,” Shah added. “It doesn’t distinguish between happy events like a wedding celebration, or sad farewells, like a funeral.

Despite such grim warnings, about 1,500 people alighted on a New Jersey boardwalk home featured on MTV’s “Jersey Shore” Monday night, ending in eight arrests, Seaside Heights police said.

The event was organized by a group of YouTube pranksters, according to Seaside Heights Police Detective Steve Korman, and officials say they are now concerned about how they will track possible infections among more than 1,000 people.

Universities try to stay ahead of outbreaks

Outbreaks continue to appear in colleges and universities, leading some to return to virtual learning.

More than 50,000 coronavirus cases have been reported in colleges and universities in all 50 states.

Citing a significant increase in cases among students, the University of Colorado Boulder announced a 14-day quarantine period for students living within the city.

The University of Arizona is taking a similar approach, urging students to shelter-in-place until the end of the month after a slew of positive cases. The university reported 261 positive cases on Monday, according to the school’s coronavirus dashboard.

At the University of Missouri, two students were expelled and three were suspended for violating rules that require students who test positive to isolate themselves and comply with social distancing.

“These students deliberately put others at risk, and that is never acceptable. We will not allow the actions of a few to take away the opportunity for in-person learning that more than 8,000 faculty and staff have worked so hard to achieve for more than 30,000 students across the world. MU, “the university said in a statement Tuesday.

Back to normal is far away

Officials are trying to prepare the public for a life altered by the pandemic for a few more months, if not years.

Dr Soumya Swaminathan, scientific director of the World Health Organization in Geneva, said the world may not be able to return to “pre-Covid” life until 2022.

Swaminathan said that between 60% and 70% of the world’s population would need to have immunity before there is a drastic reduction in the transmission of the virus.

“We are looking to 2022 at least before enough people start receiving the vaccine to develop immunity,” he told reporters during a virtual meeting organized by the United Nations Foundation.

“So for a long time, we have to maintain the same type of measures that are currently being implemented with physical distancing, masking and respiratory hygiene.”

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