Given the country’s pace of vaccination, America’s leading expert on COVID-19 predicts that shots will be available to everyone in the general public in April.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told NBC “Today” Thursday that a multi-faceted approach involving pharmacies, local vaccine centers and mobile units will accelerate the country’s vaccination rate into spring.
‘I imagine that by the time we get there in April, that’s going to be what I’d be calling for [lack of] better wording, ‘open season’, meaning that virtually anyone and everyone in any category could start to vaccinate, ”Fauci said.
US COVID-19 VACCINE BACKGROUND SUBSIDING: CDC
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He predicted that it would take several more months after April to get the vaccine into people’s arms, adding, “ Hopefully, by the mid and end of summer, we could have reached the target where we are talking about, namely the overwhelming majority of people in this country have been vaccinated. “
Fauci previously speculated in December that the US could see an “open season” around the end of March or the beginning of April. Starting vaccinations for the general public in April would mean achieving herd immunity around the end of summer, he added.
Although Fauci was accused of moving the goalposts at the rates required for herd immunity, in December he estimated that 75% to 80% of the country’s population must be vaccinated before the US can reach the milestone and some semblance of starting to see normalcy.
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According to data from the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 44.8 million doses have been administered in the US and approximately 10.5 million people have received two doses. President Biden said on Monday that his administration is on track to exceed the goal of administering 100 million doses of vaccine during his first 100 days in office.
A seven-day moving average from the CDC has recorded more than 1 million vaccines administered every day from Jan. 24 to Feb. 5, when the most recent data was available.
Fox News’ Peter Aitken contributed to this report.