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

“ If we are able to — and it looks like we’re right on track to do it — vaccinate a solid majority of the country, what happens to the public health picture here if and when a large majority of the rest of the world remains unvaccinated? ”

“ We’re doing everything we can to put this pandemic behind us, and we stand ready to support states. But, before I turn it to Dr. Walensky, I want to reiterate the role all of us have to play. We need everyone to do their part. We need all Americans to take the steps we know work to stop COVID-19. So, please: Wear a mask, socially distance, and as needed — socially distance, and get tested as needed, and also go get vaccinated. As of Monday, all adult Americans will be eligible. ”

“ Yeah, I would just say that I think we have a responsibility to vaccinate the rest of the world, both from a humanitarian standpoint as well as from a global health security standpoint, to ensure that we don’t have further variants that threaten both the rest of the world as well as the United States.And I look forward to having CDC — where we have partnerships across the globe — to having a key role in providing technical assistance and support to make that happen. ”

“ Importantly, the vaccines produced by Moderna and Pfizer are still widely available, and we continue to work with pharmacies, states, and FEMA to make sure the vaccine supply remains robust across the country as we approach April 19th, when all Americans above age 16 or 18, depending on the vaccine received, will be eligible for vaccination.
If you have not been vaccinated, I want to encourage you to do so with one of the available vaccines as soon as you can. Widespread vaccination is the only way we will ultimately move past this pandemic. ”

“ We’re doing a number of other things to work with individual states that are experiencing a rise in cases: providing more intensive support to get more shots in arms more quickly, more personnel to support vaccination and other public health efforts, and more testing and therapeutics. Additional sequencing efforts will be a vital tool in our battle against COVID-19.
I have one further announcement. Today, we’re announcing another federally-run mass vaccination site in Bessemer, Alabama, that will have the capacity to administer 7,000 shots per week. ”

“ And today’s funding announcement is part of a broader commitment to increase access to vaccines and reduce the spread of COVID-19 in hard-hit communities.
Additionally, I want to emphasize one point in particular about vaccines which isn’t always so obvious, and that’s the following: Increasing access to vaccines is critical for increasing confidence in vaccines.
And here’s why: The more people see those around and get vaccinated, particularly family and friends, the more comfortable they become with getting vaccinated themselves. ”

“ If people have appointments to get the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine, we want them to keep those appointments. We have great faith in the effectiveness of those vaccines, and they have very strong safety profiles. ”

“ We are also getting vaccines into arms as quickly and as equitably and safely as possible. I am proud of the progress we’ve made. More than one third of the U.S. population has received at least one dose, and more than one fifth of the population is fully vaccinated. ”

“ All roads to defeating the pandemic go through the path of successfully and quickly vaccinating the country. To date, 125 million Americans have been vaccinated and millions more each day. But even as we accelerate our efforts to get shots in arms, more dangerous variants are growing, causing increases in cases with people without immunity. ”

“ Over the past year, the virus keeps reminding us that the risks of actually getting COVID are quite significant. It’s cost us more than 500,000 friends and family members and has led to hospitalizations and prolonged symptoms for many, many more. ”

“ And did the trial include a booster shot so people know what to expect, medically, if they have to get one? ACTING ADMINISTRATOR SLAVITT: I think you’re going to — I’m going to ask you to repeat that because you cut out in the middle. Q Sure. I’m just looking for specifics about what the administration has done or is doing to acquire enough booster shots for people in the case that it — that they need them for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, and whether the booster was part of the trial so people know what to expect, medically, if they get one in terms of the side effects. ”

“ The demonstration that incredibly rare events — we also have to face the fact that we have lost 560,000 Americans and that vaccines save lives. 125 million Americans have gone and gotten vaccinated, and the results, as we can see, are quite incredible.So we hope Americans see that, in giving them the straight facts, we trust them to do the homework, make the decision to get vaccinated, and it’s the right decision for them and their families. ”

“ And that gets an “A-3” recommendation.
The panel also recommends against the use of these antibodies in people who are hospitalized, except if it’s in a clinical trial. However, the use should be considered for persons with mild to moderate COVID-19 who are hospitalized for a reason other than the underlying COVID-19 disease but who otherwise meet the criteria.
And on the last slide. We often get asked, “If I have a patient coming into the office who I think I might want to give a monoclonal antibody to, how do I find out where and how to do that?” ”

“ Another reason for these increases is the continued spread of highly transmissible variants — more than 50 to 70 percent more transmissible — which makes the race to stop the transmission even more challenging and threatens to overwhelm our healthcare system again in parts of this country.
CDC data show that the B117 variant — the variant originally identified in the United Kingdom — represents 44 percent of the virus circulating during the week of March 27th. The prevalence of B117 since that time is certainly higher, and we are expected to have new data soon. ”