WASHINGTON (CN) — Shutting down conspiracy theories with aplomb while offering his characteristically blunt assessment of the challenges that still lay in the global war against Covid-19, Dr. Anthony Fauci told members of a Senate health committee that the key lies in greater vaccination rates.
So far, more than 260 million doses of vaccine have been administered in the U.S., with just over 115 million Americans now fully vaccinated, meaning they received either both doses of the Pfizer and Moderna regimens or the single-shot Johnson & Johnson immunization.
That puts the overall percentage of Americans currently vaccinated close to 35%, a figure that President Joe Biden aims to quickly double, with 70% of all Americans with at least one dose of vaccine by the Fourth of July.
“We believe that is an attainable goal. It’s important because we’re about at that turning point where we get to a certain percentage — we don’t know what that is — but we will see a sharp turning point and a marked diminution in cases,” said Fauci, who is director of the National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Disease. “We are in a race between the vaccine and the virus, which if left to its own devices will continue to surge.”
On Monday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Pfizer’s vaccine for use in children 12 to 15.
Peter Marks, one of several senior health officials appearing Tuesday before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee, said his confidence was high in the vaccine’s safety and efficacy for the younger demographic because of what clinical trials bore out.
Just over 2,000 teens between 12 and 15 were in the Pfizer clinical tests. Half received the vaccine, and the other half received a saline placebo.
Where side effects — fatigue, body ache, brain fog and fever — were present in the younger group just like it was in those 16 and over, it was the overarching effectiveness and short-lived nature of the side effects that buoyed the FDA’s approval for youths.
Of the 1,005 adolescents who received the vaccine in Pfizer’s trial, there was not a single case of Covid-19. Among the 978 subjects who received the placebo, there were 16 cases.
“Thus, indicating the vaccine was completely effective in preventing Covid-19 in the trial that was symptomatic. Parents can rest assured there has been a thorough review of this data,” Marks, who is director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research at the FDA, told senators.
Echoing that testimony, Rachelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, urged parents to feel comfortable scheduling their child for a vaccine.
"I recognize some parents want to see how it goes, but I am encouraging all children to be vaccinated. And I am also encouraging children to ask for the vaccine," she said. "I have a 16-year-old, and I can tell you he wanted to get the vaccine. He wants his life back."
Fauci was also keen to highlight that the “real-world effectiveness” of vaccinations are often more impressive than the results of clinical trials.
At the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, for example, 59% of the 23,000 health care employees there were given a first dose of vaccine, and about 30% of the remaining staff received the full two doses.
In 31 days, infection rates among staff who were fully vaccinated was just 0.05%.
Similar results occurred in Israel where robust vaccinations were administered. The same net positives occurred in Qatar, too, Fauci said.
According to a study published May 5 by the New England Medical Journal, while Qatar was in the midst of its second and third acute outbreaks — and still scaling up its use of the Pfizer — variants emerged at a rapid clip.
