Dr. Anthony Fauci, a member of the White House coronavirus task force and a national expert on infectious diseases, predicted a coronavirus vaccine will be available for the masses by spring.
Fauci’s projected timeline came days after Pfizer and BioNTech announced that one of its vaccine candidates was found 90% effective in preventing the coronavirus. During a Thursday morning interview on Good Morning America, he predicted a vaccine will likely be available for “the ordinary citizen” by “the second quarter,” specifically the “end of April, early May, May, June.”
Fauci, who serves as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, noted that healthcare providers will be the first to get the vaccine and predicted it could happen as soon as next month.
“Obviously, the first ones that are going to get it are people like healthcare providers who put themselves at risk. Then there are those who are highly vulnerable. Over the months from December, which is when it will start in December, then you get to January, February, March, April,” he stated.
Earlier this week, Fauci stated he would take the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine after it receives the green light from the Food and Drug Administration.
Fauci’s projected timeline aligns with the one Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar laid out earlier this week.
“We have anticipated that we will have enough vaccine by the end of December to have vaccinated our most vulnerable citizens in nursing homes and otherwise, and by the end of January, enough for all healthcare workers and first responders and enough for all Americans by the end of March to early April to have general vaccination programs,” Azar said.
The United States just hit over 10 million cases of coronavirus, and there have been more than 241,000 COVID-19 deaths. With the holiday season approaching, medical experts, including Fauci, have encouraged people to consider the risk of gathering in large groups and of traveling, especially if there are people there considered to be vulnerable to the virus’s impact.
