The nation’s leading expert on infectious diseases said Thursday most Americans will be able to be inoculated against the coronavirus by April.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and chief medical adviser to President Biden, told NBC’s “Today Show” that the situation has vastly improved from the vaccine rollout’s early stumbles and will get even better in the coming months as more vaccines become available and the Biden administration ratchets up vaccination efforts nationwide.
Fauci said that by April, it should be “open season” on vaccine availability.
“Namely virtually everybody and anybody in any category could start to get vaccinated,” he said.
Fauci said that though it would likely take “several more months” to get all adults vaccinated, herd immunity — when enough people have been vaccinated to significantly slow the infection — could be achieved by late summer.
As of Thursday, 10.4 million Americans have received both doses of the two-shot vaccines currently available, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.