HEALTHCARE & PHARMA
DECEMBER 30, 2020 4:04 PM UPDATED 3 HOURS AGO
Fauci sees U.S. gaining control over pandemic by next autumn
By Steve Gorman
6 MIN READ
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -The leading U.S. infectious disease specialist, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said on Wednesday he foresees America achieving enough collective COVID-19 immunity through vaccinations to regain some semblance of normality by autumn 2021, despite early setbacks in the vaccine rollout.
Fauci made his remarks during an online discussion of the pandemic with California Governor Gavin Newsom, who announced at the outset that a more infectious coronavirus variant originally found in Britain has been detected in his state, a day after the first known U.S. case was documented in Colorado.
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Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on Wednesday he was confident that early glitches in distribution of the vaccine will be overcome.
As we get into January, the feeling is that were going to gain momentum to be able to catch up, he told Newsom, saying he expected immunizations to become widely available to the general public on demand, by April.
Assuming that the broad vaccination campaign progresses as it should through May, June and July, By the time we get to the early fall, we will have enough good herd immunity to be able to really get back to some strong semblance of normality - schools, theaters, sports events, restaurants, Fauci said.
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