When Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, takes on his new role as President-elect Biden’s chief medical adviser, one of his top priorities will be reopening schools safely and getting teachers vaccinated for the coronavirus.
In a wide-ranging interview with California State University Chancellor Tim White Friday, Fauci expressed optimism for getting most of the United States’ population vaccinated and reopening schools and college campuses to in-person instruction. (Watch the full interview here.)
“The only way we’re going to end this epidemic is if we get a range of 70% to 85% of the population vaccinated,” he said. “We could essentially end this outbreak in this country … It would be tragic to think that now that we have in our hands vaccines that are 94% to 95% effective, and we don’t get as many people as we possibly can to utilize that.”