Dr. Anthony Fauci has revealed that there have been “ very serious discussions ” between the White House and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about allowing people who have gotten their full COVID-19 vaccinations to interact.
Fauci, Joe Biden’s chief medical advisor, said “common sense” showed the risk was “extremely low.”
Fauci spoke when the number of people currently hospitalized with COVID-19 has dropped to its lowest level since Nov. 4, according to The COVID Tracking Project.
Their data from Thursday showed that hospital admissions were declining again, as they have every day since January 12, 2021.
The United States has registered 28,410,917 cases since the outbreak of the pandemic, and 508,114 deaths.
The words of Dr. Fauci gave rise to hope that the days of forced quarantines, social detachment and the wearing of masks in private spaces could soon number.
“I think what you’re going to see really soon – we’ve had some very serious discussions with our colleagues at the CDC – is, what happens when you get two people vaccinated,” he told CNN’s Chris Cuomo on Thursday night.
Fauci appeared on CNN on Thursday night and said socialization restrictions could be lifted
‘Before they were vaccinated, if they wanted to visit you, they had to be in quarantine for a while, get tested, wear a mask.
‘What we’re saying now – even though it’s not backed by data, it’s backed by common sense – if you have two vaccinated people and they want to get together … the risk isn’t zero, the risk gets extremely low. ‘
Fauci said realizing the vaccine’s power to change habitual interactions with friends and family members is likely to encourage people to get vaccinated.
He said that once his daughter has had both of her injections, as he has, he will invite her “and give her a big hug” – something he hasn’t done in a year.
“So we’re going to see people say, hey, the more people get vaccinated, I can eat with my relative who comes in, I can go to my mom, if she’s vaccinated.”
Asked by Cuomo if he expected restaurants, airlines and employers to ask for some sort of ‘passport’ for vaccination, Fauci replied, “I think you’ll see that gradually increase.”
He added, “There will be a personal, social and public health benefit.”
On Thursday, Joe Biden marked the administration of the 50 millionth dose of COVID-19 vaccine since his inauguration.
“The more people get vaccinated, the sooner we’ll beat this pandemic,” Biden said, noting that his administration is on track to surpass his pledge to deliver 100 million shots in his first 100 days in the office.
Despite bad weather hampering vaccination programs in some areas, Biden said progress has been excellent.
“We’re halfway there: 50 million shots in 37 days,” Biden said.
“That’s weeks ahead of schedule.”
All told, more than 45 million Americans have received at least one dose of the approved Pfizer and Moderna vaccines since they received Food and Drug Administration approval in December, with more than 20 million receiving both required doses.
Biden took note of the promise that a third vaccine will be approved this weekend as the single-dose candidate of Johnson & Johnson is under FDA review.
“We have a plan to roll it out ASAP if Johnson & Johnson can make it,” Biden said.
Nationally, there are currently 52,669 hospital admissions, and 3,138 COVID-19 deaths were recorded on Thursday.
That’s higher than Wednesday’s death toll of 2,447.
As Fauci said, hospital admissions on Thursday were at the lowest level since Nov. 4
The number of US deaths from the pandemic rose to 508,114 on Thursday
The number of coronavirus cases in the US since the start of the pandemic has risen to over 28 million
Fauci said that while vaccinations certainly helped control the pandemic, they weren’t alone.
‘I don’t think it’s the only factor. I think it’s a combination of things, ”he said, noting that the December and January spike was caused by unsafe behavior, such as pre-vacation travel, which has now declined.
And he said people were rightly concerned about mutations, but the key to stopping mutations was to stop the spread.
A new variant, homegrown in the US and known as B.1.427 / B.1.429, that surfaced in California, has emerged as a worrying variant.
New studies have suggested that infection with the variant increases the viral load about twice as high as the originally circulating strains of the virus, spreads at least as easily as other recent variants and can be up to 11 times more deadly.
The variant was first identified in May 2020 and was virtually non-existent until October.
In a recent study, expected to be posted to the medRxiv.org server later this week, the University of California, San Francisco, looked at 2,172 samples of the virus collected in California between September 2020 and January 2021.
In January, the new variant accounted for more than 50 percent of all genetically analyzed samples of the coronavirus.
In short, it had become the most common type in the satay. It could be responsible for 90 percent of the state’s infections in late March, scientists told the Los Angeles Times.
Dr. Charles Chiu, professor of laboratory medicine and infectious disease expert at UCSF, told the paper that the virus was found to be 19 to 24 percent more transmissible than previous strains.
California’s home-grown variety called B.1.427 / B.1.429 currently accounts for 50% of all cases in the state and an estimated 90% of all cases by the end of March (above)
The number of daily infections rose slightly on Thursday, but is still much lower than the peak after the January holiday
The death toll on Thursday rose to just over 3,100
Separate teams of researchers have found yet another variant of coronavirus – this one in New York City.
The new variant may be able to bypass the current vaccines. But vaccine companies are already working on the matter, Dr. Max Gomez of CBS2 reported Thursday.
The mutation was discovered by Dr. David Ho at Columbia University.
Ho said it changes the spike in proteins, allowing the virus to evade antibodies that could result in a weaker immune response.
“We don’t know if it’s more transmissible, but we’re seeing it increase in prevalence within our patient population,” Ho told CBS2.
Fauci said, “The best way to prevent the emergence of new varieties is to stop their spread.
Viruses don’t mutate unless they spread.
Fauci said a vaccine would provide a level of antibodies that was a ‘cushion’ – despite not being specifically tuned for the mutation.
“The higher the protection level, there’s a spillover effect, if you want,” he said.