Dr. Anthony Fauci now says that up to 90% of the population may need to be vaccinated or infected to achieve herd immunity to COVID-19, admitting in a new interview that it has been intentionally raising the bar. in part, of what he believes the country is ready to hear.
“We really don’t know what the real number is,” the nation’s top infectious disease expert told the New York Times.
“I think the real range is between 70 and 90 percent. But I won’t say 90%. “
The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has acknowledged that this number has intentionally increased as the scientific understanding of the virus has changed, and as Americans have become more confident in vaccines against coronavirus.
“When polls said only half of all Americans get a vaccine, I was saying that herd immunity would take between 70 and 75 percent,” he said.
“Back then, when the most recent polls said 60% or more would take it, I thought, ‘I can do a little more of this,’ so I went to 80, 85.”
He said he feels comfortable drawing the 90% herd immunity line because he doesn’t think the virus is more infectious than measles, which is in that range.
“I bet my house that COVID is not as contagious as measles,” he said.
About 46 percent of Americans plan to get the vaccine at the first available opportunity, while 32 percent are willing to wait for others to get the first vaccine, according to a recent US-Suffolk University survey. .