Fauci: Vaccinating people who think COVID-19 is ‘fake news’ will be ‘real problem’
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said that it will be a “real problem” convincing people who believe the coronavirus is “fake news” to get a vaccine.
“They actually don’t think that this is a problem,” Fauci said during a conversation with The Hastings Center. “Despite a quarter million deaths, despite more than 11 million infections, despite 150,000 new infections a day, they don’t believe it’s real. That is a real problem.”
Fauci’s comments come as Americans gear up for two COVID-19 vaccine candidates that have shown promise in recent weeks. Pfizer said earlier this month its vaccine was more than 90% effective in early results, and Moderna said Monday its vaccine is 94.5% effective.
Fauci also said that more than 50% of Americans would have to get vaccinated in order to quell the spread of the virus.
“If we have an effective vaccine and 50% of the people don’t take it, you still have a considerable public health challenge,” Fauci said Tuesday at another conference, according to CNBC.
Fauci also spoke about the expected timeline for the vaccine rollout, saying Wednesday that he thinks the public could start getting vaccinated as soon as April, according to USA Today.
“Then you can start talking about this umbrella or blanket of protection on society that would diminish dramatically the risk of a person being exposed or even being infected,” Fauci said. “When so many people are protected, that’s when you get into the real herd immunity.”
There was an increase in the willingness for Americans to get a COVID-19 vaccine in the latest Gallup survey, with 58% saying they would get vaccinated compared with 50% who said the same in September. The poll, conducted Oct 19-Nov. 1, is based on responses from 2,985 adults and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Democrats are more likely than Republicans and independents to say they’d get a vaccine, and Democrats have shown the biggest increase in willingness over time. In the Gallup poll conducted Sept. 14-17, 53% of Democrats said they would get vaccinated compared to the 69% who said they would get it in the latest survey.
Governments are hoping that the vaccines will help nations achieve herd immunity and stop the spread of the virus, according to Reuters.
Herd immunity refers to how protected a community is against an illness. The World Health Organization have referred to a 65-70% vaccine coverage in order to achieve immunity, Reuters reported.
