Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is trying to temper expectations for the timeline of when a vaccine or treatment for the coronavirus will be available.
During his testimony before a Senate committee on Tuesday, Fauci was asked, “What would you say to the chancellor of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, or the principal of a public school, about how to persuade parents and students to return to school in August?”
“I would be very realistic with the chancellor,” Fauci said, adding, “I would tell her that in this case, that the idea of having treatments available — or a vaccine — to facilitate the reentry of students into the fall term, would be something that would be a bit of a bridge too far.”
Fauci noted that there is a drug that has shown “some degree of efficacy.” However, he said that it is “not yet, or maybe ever to be used” as a treatment.
He continued, “If the issue is that the young individuals who would be going back to school would like to have some comfort in that there’s a treatment. Probably, the thing that would closest to utilization then would likely be passive transfer of convalescent serum.”
Watch the video below:
Dr. Anthony Fauci says the idea of having treatments or a vaccine as students begin school is “a bit of a bridge too far.”
— ABC News (@ABC) May 12, 2020
“Even at the top speed we’re going, we don’t see a vaccine playing in the ability of individuals going back to school this term.” https://t.co/jKdLnMqXFJ pic.twitter.com/NIiDxFreyL
“But we’re really not talking about necessarily treating a student who gets ill, but how the student will be safe going back to school. If this were a situation where we had a vaccine, that would really be the end of that issue,” he said.
Fauci added, “As I mentioned in my opening remarks, even at the top speed we’re going, we don’t see a vaccine playing in the ability of individuals to get back to school this term.”
President Donald Trump has said he believes that a vaccine could be available by the end of the year. But he has also softened his expectations when asked if he was “convinced” that the vaccine would be available by the end of the year.
He said, “You can never be convinced.”