Last week, the world reached the grim milestone of suffering more than 1 million deaths due to the coronavirus pandemic.
As we enter into flu season, the United States is also seeing an uptick in positive cases, particularly in the Midwest, which has some believing we are heading for a third wave of COVID-19.
Despite these statistics, Dr. Anthony Fauci believes we can take steps to reverse the trend without having to impose mandatory lockdowns again.
“We’re not talking about shutting down anything,” Fauci told Wired. “We're talking about taking a very prudent, careful approach to reopening the economy by [following] the common five things: wearing masks uniformly, avoiding crowds, keeping distance, doing things outdoors absolutely much more preferentially than indoors, and washing your hands frequently.”
Fauci also said he feels hopeful after seeing how well Australia handled flu season as their winter just ended.
“They had almost a nonexistent flu season, the first time in memory that they had such a low flu season,” Fauci added. “And the reason is they abided by the public health measures that I just mentioned.”
And while Americans are waiting for news of an effective vaccine, the infectious disease expert wants people to feel confident that it will be safe once it is made available.
“The way the system is set up, there are independent bodies that have access to the data that no one else has access to,” he shared. “And they make the decision based on the scientific data, whether the vaccine is safe and effective.”
Fauci projects we’ll know if we have a successful vaccine by November or December. And with multiple candidates currently in various stages of testing, he is confident there will be enough doses once they are approved and found to be effective
“There will be available, at the end of the year in December, about 100 million doses,” Fauci said. “It will be up to 700 million doses by the end of April.”
Fauci ended his interview on an optimistic note.
“This outbreak will end,” he said. “We will get a vaccine. And if we combine a vaccine with prudent public health measures, we can put this behind us.”
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