Even with the new COVID-19 vaccines, reaching herd immunity in the U.S. before the end of the summer will be very difficult, President Joe Biden said in an interview with CBS News that aired Sunday.
To get to herd immunity, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Biden’s chief medical adviser on the coronavirus pandemic, said 75% of Americans need to be vaccinated. In his first network interview of his presidency, Biden told Norah O’Donnell that the big sticking point to reaching that benchmark was the lack of a sufficient supply of vaccines.
The Trump administration’s handling of the pandemic was “even more dire than we thought,” Biden said.
“They had indicated there was a lot more vaccine available and it didn’t turn out to be the case,” he added.
Now, the administration must push to have more vaccines manufactured. Once that happens, Biden said he hopes to use all 32 National Football League stadiums for mass vaccinations.
About 20 million American children haven’t been in classrooms for nearly a year and Biden said it’s time to safely reopen schools.
“You have to have fewer people in the classroom. You have to have ventilation systems that have been reworked,” Biden said. He also noted that “science-based” health guidelines for reopening schools will likely be presented this week.
More of the interview will air Monday.
Check out the video clips above and below:
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