Fauci is as eager as anyone to get the vaccine out, but he wants to warn people that it’s not a cure-all. “Things will improve with a vaccine, but they’re not going to improve overnight,” Fauci told People. While the nation’s leading infectious disease expert is optimistic about the relief that will come with a vaccine, he is hesitant to tout it as the remedy to all of our problems. “The thing that gives me the most hope is the recent demonstration that vaccines work. We have one vaccine candidate from Pfizer that showed an extraordinarily high degree of efficacy, more than 90 percent. That is a huge advance in one of the tools we need to contain the outbreak,” Fauci said. “And it is very likely that very soon we will be seeing other vaccine candidates that hopefully and likely will have comparable degrees of efficacy.” At the same time, Fauci insists that the vaccine alone won’t put a stop to the spread of COVID. But when you combine the vaccine “with accelerating public health measures, I believe we can turn this around, we can contain it,” he said. Keep reading for more of Fauci’s predictions, and to see when the general public will be able to get vaccinated, You Should Be Able to Get a COVID Vaccine by This Month, Dr. Fauci Says. Fauci predicts that the next few months will be especially difficult due to colder weather in many parts of the country. “I think it’s going to be intense over the next few months … when many activities would require being indoors rather than outdoors that makes dealing with a respiratory born illness that much more problematic,” he said. Although the vaccine is in sight, it’s not here just yet. “Between now and the first few months of 2021 are going to be extremely challenging from a public health standpoint because we’re going to see cases go up until the vaccine and good public health measures have them start to come back down again,” he added. Fauci points out that while we’re currently experiencing a surge in cases both globally and in the U.S., he thinks “we’re going to get relief as we get into the first and second quarter of 2021.” And for more up-to-date information, sign up for our daily newsletter.ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb The doctor acknowledged that many people have gotten “COVID fatigue.” Fauci warns against getting lazy about taking the precautions known to stop the spread of the virus. “We can’t say either that we give up because it’s futile and we’re exhausted with doing it nor can we say we have a vaccine coming so why don’t we just do what we want to do,” Fauci noted. And for more on the coronavirus vaccine, This Is When We’ll Know If the COVID Vaccine Is Safe for Kids, Fauci Says. “Right now we’re in a position as we get into the arena of having successful and effective vaccines it’s very important to get the message to people to hang in there because help is coming,” Fauci said. He used the metaphor “the cavalry is on the way”—the cavalry, of course, being the vaccine. “If we could hang in there and implement those public health measures and not give up about it, we’re going to get through this, this is going to end,” he added. And for other concerns that health experts have, Doctors Have This One Worry About the COVID Vaccine. While it’s hard to look ahead to a time when the height of the COVID pandemic will be just a memory, Fauci ensures us that time will come. “We’re going to look back at it, it’s going to be part of history, but when you’re living through it, you don’t see it as part of history, you see it as part of real and present pain, which is what it is but we’re going to get through it,” he said. And to make sure you’re prepared for vaccination, These Are the COVID Vaccine Side Effects Doctors Are Worried About.
