Anthony Stephen Fauci, Vivek Hallegere Murthy, Rochelle Paula Walensky, and Jeffrey Dunston Zients

“ The mental health consequences of COVID are yet another reminder why people getting vaccinated is so important. It’s our quickest path to ending the pandemic. And for all the suffering that COVID-19 can bring, I’ve also personally seen firsthand the joy and relief that vaccines can bring. ”

“ And there are tens of millions of people across the country in each and every state and county who have not yet been vaccinated. And the fair and equitable way to distribute the vaccine is based on the adult population by state, Tribe, and territory. That’s how it’s been done, and we will continue to do so.
The virus is unpredictable. We don’t know where the next increase in cases could occur. And you know that we push out all vaccine as soon as it’s available. And we’re not even halfway through our vaccination program, so now is not the time to change course on vaccine allocation. ”

“ We will continue to monitor the evidence and provide updates as we learn more. With so many people still unvaccinated, it is important that everyone, regardless of vaccination status, continue to take prevention measures in public and adhere to our guidance on ways to reduce the spread of COVID 19: Wear a mask, physically distance, avoid crowds and poorly ventilated areas, and wash your hands frequently.
And while we believe that fully vaccinated people can travel at low risk to themselves, CDC is not recommending travel at this time due to the rising number of cases. ”

“ Two thirds of community health center patients live at or below the poverty level, and 60 percent are racial and ethnic minorities.
As we announced earlier this week, we’re expanding our community health center vaccine program so that all of the nearly 1,400 community health centers can sign up to receive and administer vaccines.
Overall, across the country, there are now more than 66,000 sites where Americans can go to get a shot. And by April 19th, we will meet the President’s goal of ensuring 90 percent of Americans have a vaccination site within five miles of where they live. ”

“ Bottom line is, people look to trusted community members when they have questions and concerns, and we want to support these trusted voices because they have the power to help turn this pandemic around.
And that’s why yesterday we launched the COVID-19 Community Corps. It’s a nationwide grassroots network of health professionals, community organizations, faith leaders, businesses, and Americans from all walks of life who are collectively stepping up to be leaders for their communities in this national vaccination effort. ”

“ When you look at the scope of the ability to mount a adequate immune response that could protect you, if anything, it is likely that elderly individuals, particularly if they’re frail and have underlying conditions, might not have responded as well to the vaccine — which, when someone is already elderly and may or may not have an underlying condition, that it is unfortunate but not surprising that you might have a couple of deaths within that more than 200 people who broke through. ”

“ We’ve made extraordinary progress on the vaccine campaign. And what we’ve already accomplished gives us faith that we can accomplish the tasks ahead. It will take all of us stepping up to help the people we love to get vaccinated. ”

“ That same survey in March, just three months later, found that 61 percent of people reported either already being vaccinated or wanting to receive a vaccine as soon as possible. This is an encouraging trend, but we still have more work to do.
Millions of people still have questions about the vaccine, and misinformation and disinformation continues to spread. That is why we are working hard to give people the facts about COVID-19 through a variety of channels, the most important of which is trusted messengers. ”

“ Our guidance on unvaccinated individuals really is to limit travel to only essential travel with masking — protective, prevention strategies.And so our update on this is really only for those who are vaccinated, and that represents about 20 percent of the adult population. ”

“ This week, scientists found that one in eight people with COVID-19 were diagnosed with a new psychiatric or neurological condition in the following six months, and anxiety and depression were among the most common conditions.
Millions of people are experiencing symptoms of anxiety and depression right now. And research from the CDC has showed that younger adults, racial and ethnic minorities, essential workers, and unpaid adult caregivers have experienced disproportionately worse mental health outcomes during this pandemic. ”

“ However, fully vaccinated people should get tested and have a negative test result before they board an international flight back into the United States, but they do not need to quarantine when they arrive here. ”

“ And part of our effort to get vaccinations to the remaining group of folks over 65 involves working with community organizations that can reach people who are older. And that’s — we’re doing that on a very local basis. You know, we’re working with, you know, sports leagues; with groups like AARP — the American and American Association of Retired People; and we’re working with faith organizations — all of which can reach, you know, seniors in different ways. ”

“ We are better equipped than ever before to take on these serious challenges, but we must remain vigilant. Finally, I want to briefly update — a follow-up on a question I received on Wednesday from Nsikan Akpan at New York Public Radio about the B1526 variant and its classification as a variant of interest rather than a variant of concern.
I want to be clear that listing a variant as one of interest rather than a variant of concern does not mean we are not prioritizing the variant or that the variant is not important for us to carefully follow. ”

“ We’ve talked about it in terms of cases and hospitalizations and vaccination numbers, but I want to start today just by sharing with you a little bit more about what we’ve learned about the toll of the COVID-19 pandemic.
For many Americans, this pandemic has not only impacted our physical health and wellbeing, but also the mental health and wellbeing of our children. This week, we learned, for example, that an estimated 40,000 children in America lost a parent to COVID-19, according to a new model from researchers. ”

“ Yeah, Kaitlan, with the number of breakthrough cases, I think the important thing is to look at what the denominator of vaccinated people is, because it is very likely — and what we’re hearing at least indirectly, and we’ll — we’re certainly going to be confirming that — that that number of individuals who were breakthrough infections is not at all incompatible with a 90-plus percent vaccine efficacy. ”

“ And that evolving evidence demonstrates that traveling would be a low-risk activity if you are fully vaccinated. And that was the reason for the update of the guidance.That said, we are at 64,000 new COVID cases today. And that is — and our numbers continue to increase. Our — we have an increase of 8 percent today.
I still continue to worry that, with 80 percent of the population unvaccinated, that we have a lot of work to do to control this pandemic, which remains my concern. ”

“ The research tells us clearly that people want to hear from people they know and trust when deciding about the vaccine. For example, a survey in January showed that more than three in four adults in the United States have said they would likely turn to a doctor or nurse or other healthcare provider when deciding whether to get the vaccine. ”

“ Some of the founding members include sports leagues, like NASCAR, Major League Baseball, and WWE; health professionals, like the American Nurses Association and the American Medical Association; industry groups, like the Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, and the Farm Bureau ”

“ With this funding for testing, every state will have access to millions of dollars to set up screening programs to add an additional layer of protection for schools, teachers, and students. This funding can be used to test teachers, staff, and students with any symptoms of COVID-19, those who have may have been exposed to the virus, and to establish sustained screening programs across school systems.
We recognize that establishing a testing program is a new venture for many schools. ”

“ I’m actually at The 19th, but I was hoping to learn a bit about how you all plan to reach the almost quarter of seniors who are not yet vaccinated, many of whom say — right? — that no one has talked to them about whether it’s safe; who are maybe homebound — and if there are specific local- or state-coordinated efforts in partnership with you all to make sure that people are getting the message about vaccines. ”

“ There seems to be little doubt that the 117 seems to transmit more efficiently from person to person. There is a suggestion that it also causes more severe disease. The proof of that is much more difficult than showing that it’s more transmissible. ”

“ So the bottom-line message is that vaccines work very well in the real-world setting. They work against variants, although we need further data to confirm that. They are durable for at least six months. And they work in adolescence. Very, very good reason for everyone to get vaccinated as soon as it becomes available to you. ”

“ The one thing we do know — that Israel is a classic example — is that as you get people vaccinated, you’re going to start seeing diminution in number of cases, which will be followed by diminution in hospitalizations, which will inevitably be followed by diminution in deaths. ”

“ Vaccinations continue to increase with the most recent seven-day average of nearly 3 million vaccinations delivered daily, up 4.5 percent from the prior seven-day period. Our vaccination efforts this week have continued to accelerate, moving us closer and closer to President Biden’s goal of 200 million vaccinations in his first 100 days. ”

“ A platform is the type of vaccine that you use. There’s genetic immunization, such as DNA and RNA, and hence the mRNA vaccines; viral vectors, such as the adeno with J&J; recombinant protein, such as Novavax ”

“ With FDA authorization, the company also expects a cadence of up to 8 million weekly doses in total across state and federal channels later in April. Importantly, Johnson & Johnson has also reiterated its commitment to provide at or near 100 million vaccine doses by the end of May.
Now, even as we accelerate our vaccination program, we are seeing areas of the country where cases are increasing. From the beginning of the administration, we’ve been closely tracking the data on the state of the disease in each state and territory. The CDC tracks data and outbreaks at the state and county level. ”

“ But once they receive the authorization, the company believes that it will be able to achieve that 8 million per week cadence.
You know, in terms of the situation in states that are experiencing increases in states — sorry, in cases — you know, this pandemic has hit every state and every county hard. Thousands of people — hundreds of thousands of people have died, and more are dying each day. ”

“ Israel has not had the overwhelming majority of their population vaccinated yet. However, they are seeing a very, very beneficial effect, already. So whether or not they will have reached herd immunity — again, herd immunity is an elusive concept. ”

“ And, two, help the people you care about get vaccinated as well. Ask your family and friends if they have a plan to get vaccinated. If they have questions, talk to them about the facts; encourage them to talk to their primary care provider. ”