Although the United States broke a record number of deaths from Covid-19 reported in a single day, Dr. Paul Offit told CNN’s New Day that there were several reasons to hope that the situation of coronavirus improved “drastically” soon.
Offit, director of the Philadelphia Children’s Hospital Vaccine Education Center and a member of the Advisory Committee on Vaccines and Biological Products Related to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, acknowledged that the figures are likely “horrible” continue for a few months, but he said they are reasons for optimism:
Massive vaccines
There are two “extraordinarily effective” vaccines and “we’re finally starting to know how to administer them massively,” Offit said, citing examples like the Pennsylvania Convention Center or Dodger Stadium. Meanwhile, two more vaccines, those from Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca, “are just around the corner,” he added.
Warmer weather
“The weather will get warmer, when the weather gets warmer, which makes it much harder for this virus,” said Offit, who explained that when it gets hot and humid, the virus, which spreads by small drops, it spreads less easily.
New political administration
Offit said the incoming Biden administration “is not in this cult of denialism” surrounding the Trump administration’s coronavirus response, and that it would “take on this problem head on.”
A population that builds immunity
According to Offit, the number of people infected with coronavirus (23 million) is an understatement. Many people have had an asymptomatic or slightly symptomatic infection and have never been tested. Infected figures are likely to approach 65 or 70 million, he said.
“It’s 20% of the population that, when exposed to this virus again, won’t get sick,” he said, though it’s unclear how long immunity lasts after infection.
If between 55 and 60% of the population can be vaccinated (which Offit said can be done between a million and a million and a half doses a day), I really think that in June we can stop the spread of this virus. ”