Anthony Stephen Fauci

“ DR. WALENSKY: So maybe I’ll just start and say, given that we’re still at over 100,000 cases a day, I would discourage any such activity, and I would say that we are still in the first hundred days where we want certainly everybody masked for the first hundred days.I think we have yet to control this pandemic. We still have this emerging threat of variants. And I would just simply discourage any of those activities. We really need to keep all of the mitigation measures at play here if we’re really going to get control of this pandemic. ”

“ We are working with state and local health departments to meet the communities they serve, where they are, in places they know, with people they trust. And we’ll encourage all vaccination centers to collaborate with community-based organizations and others who can help communities with the greatest need.
Today I’m pleased to announce the federal government will partner with the state of California to launch two new community vaccination centers: one in East Oakland and the second in the east side of Los Angeles — two of the communities most hard hit by this pandemic. ”

“ Today, I want to begin the briefing by updating you on what is happening while you’re waiting. In the weeks and even months that you are waiting, the nation’s efforts are being spent focused on many who are most at risk of hospitalization and death from this virus: the elderly, seniors, frontline health care workers, and many essential workers.
According to a recent CDC report, the Long-Term Care Program has administered now over 4.8 million doses to more than 3.7 million of our most vulnerable. Those who were dying in large numbers over the last year are now on a path to protection. ”

“ On vaccinations, President Biden put it simply when he said, “We need to increase vaccine supply and get it out the door as fast as possible. We need to mobilize more medical units to get more shots in people’s arms. And we need to create more places where Americans can get vaccinated.”
The President set a goal to deliver 100 million shots in his first 100 days. Today I want to give you an update on our execution against that goal.
We will also hear a state-of-the-pandemic update from Dr. Walensky and an update on the latest science from Dr. Fauci. We will then open it up for questions. ”

“ And just about 20 minutes ago, a new Monmouth poll shows about 50 percent of Americans plan to get the vaccine when they can, but 24 percent say it is likely they will never get it if they can avoid it. So, my question is: Are there any conditions under which you would recommend requiring a vaccine to access certain places like federal properties, schools, or to travel, like if we fail to reach herd immunity after a certain point, or if more variants continue to spread? ”

“ Now, this is a great representation of the American spirit of generosity and American selflessness because our ability to vaccinate millions of the elderly, seniors, and healthcare workers is a testament to a society that has put our parents and grandparents, those who have served us, and those who continue to sacrifice for us on the frontlines of the healthcare system first. ”

“ DR. WALENSKY: Thank you so much, Andy. I’m so glad to be back and joining you today. Today, I’m going to give you a brief update on the pandemic. As I mentioned on Friday, despite trends moving in the right direction, we remain in a very serious situation. COVID-19 continues to affect too many people, as we continue to mourn all of those lives that have been lost. ”

“ So I just want to remind people that this is a global effort, and the more we get the virus controlled globally — and we will be part of that process as part of the global community — the better off we will be. Because I’ve said it many times, and I’ll close by saying it again: We have to be concerned about the mutants. Viruses will not mutate well if you don’t give them the opportunity to replicate in a very large way. Namely, if you have an open playing field for the virus, they will replicate, and they will mutate. ”

“ Fauci said on Monday — that, you know, the U.S. should administer all the doses it has without holding any back, and then, ideally, in three weeks, prioritize people getting second doses. I know that vaccine production has ramped up, but has it increased enough so that you can give everyone their second dose and keep up the same pace for new vaccinations? MR. ZIENTS: So as we talked about, I believe yesterday, we’ve steadily increased the amount of vaccine that we are sending to states. We are up over 20 percent now across the first two weeks. ”

“ The data from schools suggests that there’s very little transmission that is happening within the schools, especially when there’s masking and distancing occurring, and that when there are transmissions in the schools, it is because they brought — been brought in from the community and because there are breaches in masking and distancing.
So, if we want to get our schools open and our schools open safely and well, the best way to do that is to decrease the community spread. So I would say we need to keep up our social distancing and our masking and all of our other mitigation measures. ”

“ We get asked all the time: “Should we be double masking?” The CDC makes recommendations based on data that they accumulate because it’s a science-based organization. Right now, they are looking at these different options of mask wearing. ”

“ Over 83,000 Americans are hospitalized right now with COVID-19 — much higher than the summer and fall.
Today, we are reporting that COVID-19 deaths increased 2.4 percent to an average of 3,221 deaths per day from January 31st to February 6th. As I mentioned on Friday, sometimes delays in reporting can lead to fluctuations in the data. This is the case for the average number of deaths reported today, which includes a delayed report of 1,570 confirmed deaths from one state. ”

“ We have to address that vaccine hesitancy at its roots and understand why people are hesitant.I do believe that the more people who get this vaccine — we now have over 32 million who’ve received at least one dose — the more people will realize and recognize that it is being distributed and given safely and that the side effects really are minimal to moderate — minimal, really — with very rare risk of events that can be managed. ”

“ And in skilled nursing facilities that have had at least one vaccination clinic, an estimated median of almost 80 percent of residents have received at least one dose of vaccine.
As vaccinations at these facilities are completed, that will mean many more lives saved, many more vaccines that can be moved into the inventory for the next priority groups. And in total, of the over 40 million doses that have been administered, over 17 million doses have been administered to people 65 or older. ”

“ We are taking a collaborative approach as much as possible, sharing with them the data, helping them understand — as we’ve covered on this call — why we’re in such a critical period to combating the virus, and hope to continue to work to persuade and partner with states and localities to continue to follow sensible public health measures until such time as we’re in a situation where the case rates are down — are down lower. We think that’s wise.We think that the — that the voice of the CDC is preeminent here. They look at all of the data. They’re clear in communicating with the public. ”

“ It means that under special circumstances, it’s better to delay that couple of weeks than not do it at all.
But we feel strongly that we will go by the science, which has dictated for us the optimal way to get the 94 to 95 percent response, which is, in fact, durable for the period of time that we’ve been following it.
One other thing I want to mention: We live in a global community, and it is encouraging to see that other countries are coming out with results from their own vaccine trial, such as the Russian trial that we heard about a day or two ago ”

“ A virus is transmissible and is virulent, and the degree of transmissibility and the degree of virulence can actually overlap and result — because you’ve heard us say on our briefings that a virus that has a greater degree of transmissibility will be making more people sick. ”

“ So I think that is really our best barrier against these variants, is to do the masking, the distancing. And you will — more data will be forthcoming from the CDC with regard to the value of double masking. MR. ZIENTS: I’ll remind everybody that on his first day in office, President Biden signed an executive order requiring mask wearing in all federal buildings, all federal places, and in public transportation, interstate travel. And that is all part of a nationwide 100-day mask challenge. ”

“ The more people that get sick, the more people that will be hospitalized. And the more people that are hospitalized, you’ll likely get more deaths.But on a one-to-one basis, whether or not it is truly more virulent: Right now, we don’t have any indication that that’s the case here, and we’ll just have to continue to observe, which we do. You know, the vaccine trials, they ended and came up with an efficacy of 94 to 95 percent, but the trials go on for two years. ”

“ And that means that every school has the equipment and the resources to open safely — not just private schools or schools in wealthy areas, but all schools. And that’s why we need the American Rescue Plan passed now. It includes money to get schools better access to testing, enables smaller class sizes, acquire the necessary ventilation, ensure everyone has PPE, and that schools are properly sanitized. ”

“ Now, at the same time, we need to step up efforts to increase vaccinations of racial and ethnic communities that have suffered disproportionately. Health equity is a cornerstone of all of our work, and we’ll be talking more about progress there in upcoming briefings. ”

“ You know, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has created these guides — this guidance for how we should be thinking about prioritizing among all essential workers and all of the population at large.You know, those have been taken under recommendation — guidance from the states, and then the states are creating their own individual plans. ”

“ If you’re talking about a physical barrier — and, as the CDC recommends, you want at least two layers within the mask as a physical barrier — and you feel maybe more of a physical barrier would be better, there’s nothing wrong with people wearing two masks. ”

“ So, for that reason, we have continued to go by the fact that we feel the optimum approach would be to continue with getting as many people on their first dose as possible, but also making sure that people, on time, get their second dose. ”