Dr. Anthony Fauci, the United States' top infectious disease specialist, stated he thinks there will be "some semblance of normality" by the autumn of 2021 should vaccine dissemination speed up and an adequate number of people decide to get inoculated.
Fauci Says Life Will Return to Normal by Fall of 2021 If Vaccine Dissemination Speeds Up
Fauci's remarks were made during an online discussion of the COVID-19 pandemic with California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
According to the health expert, normality will be reached if states are able to "diligently vaccinate" the public against the novel coronavirus in 2021.
Although the coronavirus vaccine dissemination is off to a much slower start than expected, if the United States is able to catch up, prevalent immunization could be possible beginning in April, remarked the long-running National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director.
He further said, "Let's say in April, it will be what I call "open season," namely, anybody who wants to get vaccinated can get vaccinated. If we then diligently vaccinate people in April, May, June, July, then we will gradually and noticeably get a degree of protection approaching herd immunity," reported CNN.
Dr. Fauci said if we assume that the widespread vaccination campaign progresses as it should through May, June, and July, by early fall, we will reach adequate herd immunity to return to a strong semblance of normalcy in schools, sports events, theaters, and restaurants.
Gov. Newsom declared at the outset that a more infectious coronavirus variant initially found in the United Kingdom had been detected in his state, one day after the first known US case was recorded in Colorado.
According to Newsom, the COVID-19 variant B.1.1.7 had been confirmed previously in the day in a Southern California patient, reported Ahram.
Government officials had initially vowed at least 20 million vaccine shots would be administered by the end of December, but mere days away from the end of 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data displays an estimated 12.4 million doses have been disseminated, and almost 2.8 million have been received.
Dr. Peter Hotez, the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine Dean, remarked vaccinations would have to rise to over 1 million per day.
According to Hotez, it is doable, but he is not certain if we have the health system to carry that out.
He added that the federal government needs to step up, and states need to acquire funding for the vaccinations.
Fauci's remarks came on the same day the United States registered its deadliest day since the beginning of the pandemic, with 3,903 fatalities. Record hospitalizations were over 125,000.
He explained such variants are normal, taking into account that viruses mutate frequently.
According to Fauci, "They make a living out of mutating. The more you mutate, the more you replicate. It appears that this particular mutation does make the virus better at transmitting from one person to another," reported Daily Mail.
