The United States has an opportunity to return to normal by fall 2021 if enough people get vaccinated by then, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
What’s going on?
Fauci told CNN Thursday that the U.S. “can and should” vaccinate 70%-85% of its adults by the end of summer, which would put the country on pace for a return to normal by the fall.
- “When you put .... the pedal to the floor, you can get it done,” Fauci told CNN on Thursday night.
- Right now, the current rate of vaccine doses administered has the U.S. on pace to reach “normal” status by February 2022, according to CNN.
Fauci told CNN that the country has to increase production to reach that new goal. He said it can be done by “getting community vaccine centers, getting the pharmacies fully involved, using mobile units to get into inaccessible places.”
- “The only way to solve a problem is to own it,” he told CNN. “Everybody wear a mask, everybody adhere to the public health measures, get the vaccine out as expeditiously as possible, do everything we can to get the doses available and to get them into people’s arms.”
Biden ramps up vaccination efforts
President Joe Biden unveiled a new plan Thursday that created a national strategy to stop the novel coronavirus pandemic, as I wrote about for the Deseret News.
- The pandemic plan includes funds to help with more research into COVID-19, collect data on COVID-19 cases that will help the government create a response to the crises and allow the federal government to release more guidelines to protect people from the coronavirus.
- And the plan will send more money to all states to help them increase testing, vaccinations and other functions needed to help stop the pandemic, according to The Washington Post.