Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper” on Tuesday that a COVID-19 vaccine could be widely available to anyone who wants it by April 2021.
Pharmaceutical company Pfizer’s Monday announcement that its coronavirus vaccine was 90% effective sent stocks soaring Monday, but the fact that it requires two doses and must be stored at freezing temperatures poses potential logistical issues to delivering it to 330 million Americans.
While Fauci a day earlier had hailed the news as “a really big deal” and said some could begin receiving it by the end of the year, CNN anchor Jake Tapper asked Tuesday when people “not high on the priority list” could begin receiving it.
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“No, we’re talking probably by April, the end of April, I would think,” Fauci responded. “Again, these are just guesstimates. I believe that within the first quarter.”
The White House coronavirus task force member added that it could “take well into the second and third quarter to finally get people to be convinced to get vaccinated” but stressed that anyone who wants a vaccination will “be able to get vaccinated” by the end of April. (RELATED: Pfizer Tries To Distance Itself From Trump Admin’s Operation Warp Speed As Vaccine Sees Success In 1st Analysis)
Tapper ended the interview by calling President Donald Trump’s Operation War Speed “one of the great achievements of the Trump administration for which they should get some real credit.”