Coronavirus: ‘Anti-science’ America may never overcome virus warns Anthony Fauci

US may never reach immunity levels to overcome coronavirus because too many people may refuse a vaccine, warns Anthony Fauci.

America may never reach immunity levels required to overcome coronavirus because of an “alarmingly large” anti-science sentiment that means too many people could refuse a vaccine, the country’s top virologist says.

The search for a vaccine may well be successful by the new year but is unlikely to provide complete protection, said Anthony Fauci, the chief White House virus adviser.

He said he would settle for an innoculation that was 70 to 75 per cent effective, giving countries a chance of establishing herd immunity, which effectively stops it from spreading. But he said he was concerned by the high numbers who said they would not have a jab.

Jacksonville in Florida, which was chosen by President Trump for the Republican National Convention in August, ordered masks to be worn at “public and indoor locations and in other situations where individuals cannot socially distance”.

Mr Trump switched the event to the city, which the Republicans control, after the Democratic governor of North Carolina refused to guarantee that there would not be social distancing and mask-wearing requirements for the original location of Charlotte.

Mr Trump has refused to wear a mask in public but Mike Pence, the vice-president, made a rare public appearance on Sunday in a mask in Texas, a state where cases and hospital admissions have surged. Mr Pence, 61, who heads the coronavirus task force, urged Texans to wear a mask after declining to make a national appeal last Friday.

Kayleigh McEnany, the White House press secretary, said that Mr Trump believed it was a “personal choice” whether to wear a mask. “He encourages people to make whatever decision is best for their safety … He has no problem with masks.”

Greg Abbott, the Republican governor of Texas, said the spread of the virus had taken a “swift and very dangerous turn” after five consecutive days of more than 5,000 new cases.

The weekly average of cases is falling in only four states and rising in 31 although President Trump has insisted that there are more cases because of more testing. He tweeted last week that “Coronavirus deaths are way down. Mortality rate is one of the lowest in the World”.

The US is fifth in the world for fatalities as a ratio of recorded cases, at 4.9 per cent, in a chart compiled by Johns Hopkins University. On deaths per 100,000 people, the US is second on 38.45, behind the UK on 65.63.

Dr Fauci said he was optimistic that a vaccine would be available by February but it might not be completely effective. “The best we’ve ever done is measles, which is 97 to 98 per cent effective,” the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases told CNN. “That would be wonderful if we get there. I don’t think we will. I would settle for 70, 75 per cent effective vaccine.”

About 70 per cent of Americans said they planned to have a coronavirus vaccine if it was free, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll this month. About two thirds agreed in a CNN poll.

Asked whether a vaccine that is 70 to 75 per cent effective and given to two thirds of the country would create herd immunity, Dr Fauci said: “No, unlikely.”

He added: “There is a general anti-science, anti-authority, anti-vaccine feeling among some people in this country – an alarmingly large percentage of people, relatively speaking.”

Given the power of the anti-vaccine movement “we have a lot of work to do” to educate people on the truth about vaccines. “It’s not going to be easy,” he said. “It’s going to be very difficult.”

Arizona recorded its single highest day on Sunday with 3,858 new cases. Nearly 90 per cent of the state’s intensive care beds are in use.

Mr Pence visited Dallas on the day it recorded its highest number of cases and appeared at an event with a large choir, none of whom wore masks.

Asked if the White House had failed to give a lead in tackling the pandemic, Mr Pence said: “Well, to be honest, I serve alongside the president, he’s always eyes-forward.”

In Florida, which had a rising seven-day average of new cases for the 21st consecutive day on Sunday, the governor, Ron DeSantis, blamed young people flouting social-distancing rules. He said that a fifth of people testing positive were aged 25 to 34. “They’re going to do what they are going to do,” Mr DeSantis said and criticised “widespread non compliance” in bars.

The Times