Dr. Kavita Patel predicted that July 4 would mark “a turning point” in the fight against Covid for the United States.
“If we can get this herd immunity … we will be able to suppress the activity of this virus at the levels we see with the flu virus,” Patel told CNBC’s “The News with Shepard Smith” on Thursday night. “The transition from a pandemic and a kind of global emergency to an endemic one that is just a common part of what we have to do is something we can fully expect,” the former Obama policy adviser added. .
While her predictions were in line with President Biden’s goal of bringing the nation into some sort of normalcy by Independence Day, she noted that regular amplification or Covid vaccines will likely be needed, especially as variants spread. transmissible.
Pfizer has released new data from Israel, suggesting that its two-shot vaccine is about 97% effective in preventing symptomatic cases of Covid and 94% effective against asymptomatic cases. The analysis further showed high levels of protection against the highly transmissible variant B.1.1.7 in the United Kingdom, which also spread to the USA.
As of Friday morning, one in 10 Americans has been completely vaccinated – and a total of more than 98 million doses have been administered nationally, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency also reported that 62% of all Americans aged 65 and over received at least one dose and nearly a third were fully vaccinated.
Patel expects the Food and Drug Administration to fully approve the Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer and Moderna vaccines “soon,” especially as more data accumulates. All of these have been eliminated in the US for emergencies.