Dr. Kavita Patel predicted that July 4 will mark “a turning point or inflection” for the United States in the fight against Covid.
“If we can achieve that herd immunity … we will be able to suppress the activity of this virus to the level we see with the flu virus,” Patel told CNBC’s “The News with Shepard Smith” Thursday night. “From a pandemic and some sort of global emergency to an endemic one where it’s just a regular part of what we’re dealing with is something we can fully expect,” added the former Obama administration policy officer.
While her prediction was in line with President Biden’s goal of making the nation somewhat normal by Independence Day, she noted that regular boosters or Covid vaccines will likely be needed in the future, especially as transferable variants are spreading.
Pfizer has released new data from Israel suggesting that its two-stage vaccine is about 97% effective in preventing symptomatic Covid cases and 94% effective against asymptomatic cases. The analysis further showed a high level of protection against the highly transmissible B.1.1.7 variant from the UK, which has also spread in the US.
As of Friday morning, one in 10 Americans has been fully vaccinated – and in total, more than 98 million doses have been administered nationwide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency also reported that 62% of all Americans 65 and older have received at least one dose and nearly a third have been fully vaccinated.
Patel expects the Food and Drug Administration to fully approve Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer and Moderna vaccines “soon”, especially as more data is gathered. All have been cleared for emergencies in the US.