Anthony Stephen Fauci, Andrew M. Slavitt, and Rochelle Paula Walensky

“ We’ve suffered over 540,000 deaths — more than anywhere else in the world. And he came into office — I mean, he came into office with this seriousness of purpose to make sure that we make this country safe again. We have procured the vaccine supplies, the vaccination sites, increased the number of vaccinators.
At the same time — as Dr. Fauci, I think, will go into — we’ve also made it a priority to say that we must return to global leadership. And indeed, as your question correctly points out, until we deal with this pandemic across the globe, we will not be successful in dealing with it. ”

“ Because the World Health Organization warned, this week, that the gap between vaccines in the arms of people in rich countries and the number of vaccines through COVAX is growing, becoming more grotesque every day, and it gives false sense of security in rich countries. ”

“ While it’s good to be informed, hearing about the pandemic all day, every day, can be upsetting. Considering limiting the news to just a couple of times a day and disconnecting from screens for a while.
We have other trip — tips for improving wellbeing while staying COVID-19 safe on our CDC website, which I invite you all to look at.
Of course, do get vaccinated when the vaccine is available to you. Doing so opens up even more opportunities to connect safely in person with others in small gatherings. ”

“ Walensky and Fauci. But let me begin by offering an update on our vaccination rollout.
We continue to be encouraged by the pace of vaccinations in this country with three approved vaccines: Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson. There are now a total of 84 million people who have received at least one vaccination dose, or one in three adults, and 45 million people who have been fully vaccinated. That’s better than one in six adults.
Importantly, today we cross a milestone: 70 percent of Americans age 65 and over have now received at least one shot. ”

“ Now, as a reminder, 80 percent of deaths in the U.S. have occurred among seniors.
Put another way: No country has vaccinated more people than the U.S. That’s the result of our three-pronged strategy to rapidly (inaudible) vaccine supply, to add thousands of vaccinators and thousands more places for people to get vaccinated.
I also want to briefly touch on upcoming vaccine supply, which we are closely tracking, as are all of you. Yesterday, in our weekly call with governors, we announced that we will have 27 million doses allocated across all distribution channels this week. ”

“ DR. FAUCI: Yeah, Jeff, thank you for that question. We are always concerned when there is an apparent miscommunication — if you want to use that word — that that would add to an already-existing level of vaccine hesitancy. And that’s the reason why, as Andy said, we want to make sure we’re always completely transparent in everything that goes on with regard to our messaging in vaccine.At the end of the day, you know, when you look at the data, this is going to be — turn out to be a good vaccine. ”

“ DR. WALENSKY: Thank you, Andy. I’m glad to be back with all of you today. Let’s start with an overview of the pandemic.
As I shared with you on Monday, cases continue to increase slightly. The most recent seven-day average is nearly 55,000 per day, up about 3 percent from the prior seven-day average. The most recent seven-day average of new hospitalizations is about 4,600 per day and is similar to data on Monday. And the latest seven-day average of deaths, approximately 968 per day, has also remained flat this week. ”

“ For those who were fully vaccinated, the infection rate was extremely low: 0.05 percent infection rate among fully vaccinated employees — a real proof-positive of the importance of vaccination.
The next study was a study from California, also in healthcare workers, that showed among almost 15,000 workers who received their second dose of vaccine, who were showing that infection was extremely rare, similar to the Dallas study, with a 0.17 percent positivity. ”

“ So areas with high transmission, we are limiting what we’re recommending for in-person attendance in middle schools and high schools because of potential increased transmission for the older students.So, we believe and the science suggests that three feet versus six feet would be possible, is possible, and it is safe when all of the layered mitigation strategies that we have suggested and recommended are in place. So, 100 percent masking should be safe with — in all of your schools as long as you’re talking about the younger children. ”

“ This means that in the 62 days since taking office, we’ve more than tripled vaccine output from 8.6 million doses to 27 million doses per week.
We have more work to do. Grinding out these increases week after week takes tremendous effort in partnership with the vaccine manufacturers, the HS — HHS team, and, of course, all the people across the country vaccinating Americans. We intend to keep up this progress until all Americans are vaccinated. ”

“ This past year has been challenging, with many of us experiencing so much loss in so many forms. Our daily lives have changed, and we have had to learn new tasks like juggling jobs, childcare, and virtual learning. ”

“ Connect with people, take a walk, safely connect with a friend, connect or check in on a neighbor while you make sure you’re getting enough sleep, eating balanced and healthy meals, and get regular exercise. ”

“ If you look at the level of infection in individuals who are doubly vaccinated with the vaccine, it was 0.05 percent. That’s extremely low. That’s where we want to be. When, as a country, we are at that level, we will have turned the corner. ACTING ADMINISTRATOR SLAVITT: Great. Next question, please. MODERATOR: Next, we’ll go to Raquel at TV Globo Brazil. Q Thank you so much guys for this opportunity. Can you hear me? ACTING ADMINISTRATOR SLAVITT: Yes. Q I have one question about the vaccination and another one to Dr. Fauci. ”