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WASHINGTON – Dr Anthony Fauci assured the public on Thursday that a coronavirus vaccine would be safe and effective and called for an end to suggestions that development was being rushed for political gain.
“The speed process has not compromised security at all, nor has it compromised scientific integrity,” Fauci said Thursday at the White House Coronavirus Task Force’s first briefing in months.
“It was a reflection of the extraordinary scientific advancements in these types of vaccines, which allowed us to do this in months that took years before,” said the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
“So I really want to allay this concern of people about this,” he said, calling the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines “really strong”.
“We really need to end any concept that this has been rushed inappropriately,” Fauci said.
The warning follows remarks by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who has repeatedly suggested that vaccine development has been “politicized” by Trump and that it should undergo a second round of checks by his administration.
Fauci said Pfizer’s recent breakthrough on a successful vaccine candidate means “help is on the way,” but warned the public to wear masks and stay socially removed until they can be widely distributed. from the first vaccinations at the end of December.
“If you are fighting and the cavalry is on the way, you keep firing. You keep going until the cavalry gets here, ”he said.
The country is experiencing a disturbing increase in new daily coronavirus infections and reached the grim milestone of 250,000 coronavirus deaths on Thursday.
It was the first White House task force briefing at the Executive Mansion since July 8 with CDC Director Robert Redfield, Vice President Mike Pence, Fauci and Dr Deborah Birx, all projecting confidence that the pandemic would eventually end, but urging Americans to keep doing their part.
It was the task force’s first briefing at the White House since July 8 with CDC Director Robert Redfield, Vice President Mike Pence, HHS Secretary Alex Azar, Fauci and Dr Deborah Birx, all projecting the confident that the pandemic would eventually end, but urging Americans to continue to do their part.
President Trump was not present.
Redfield also appeared to take a thinly veiled blow to New York officials, saying the CDC had never suggested closing schools and said the classroom was actually one of the safest places for them. at the moment.
“Last spring, the CDC did not recommend the closure of schools, nor recommended their closure today,” he said.
“In the spring, the data was limited. Today we have gathered a lot of data over the past two to three months to confirm that K-12 schools can operate with face-to-face learning and that they can do so safely ” , he continued.
Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Wednesday they are closing Big Apple public schools again, admitting they have no plans to reopen and infuriating parents and students.
Redfield said infections identified in educational institutions were not spread in the classroom, but in the community, and warned of small family gatherings where people made themselves comfortable and took off their mask.
“The truth is, for kids in Kindergarten to Grade 12, one of the safest places they can be, from our perspective, is to stay in school,” he said. he declares.
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