Fauci: Social Distancing and Face Masks Still Needed Even After Injected of COVID-19 Vaccine

The rise of various EUA medicine as directed by the United States Food and Drug Administration, such as Gilead's Remdesivir and Lilly's Bamlanivimab and Pfizer's COVID-19 anti-viral drug, led people to rejoice because drugs are now allegedly getting effective against the virus. Being kept inside the house for a very long time because of the pandemic and news like 90% effectiveness of a vaccine against COVID-19 might make people lax enough to discard the safety protocols from health agencies and groups such as World Health Organization.

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In an interview with CNN, Director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Dr. Anthony Fauci, M.D., said that he recommends that people not abandon all public health measures because an individual has been vaccinated. He added that even though a vaccine is 90-95 percent effective for the whole population, he further said that the vaccine's same effect would apply to an individual. In the interview, Dr. Fauci added that he is calm in essentially not having the present severity. Still, he thinks that abandoning the safety protocols is entirely not a good idea. He added that the change would be gradual accrual of more normality in the coming weeks and the months' pass.

Drugs that show the effectiveness

It can be remembered that Pfizer released a statement saying that their vaccine candidate was found to be more than 90 percent operative against COVID-19 in participants shorn of the evidence of preceding SARS-CoV-2 contamination in the first interim analysis. According to the associated press, the Pfizer vaccine's rate of effectiveness was calculated by analyzing early data from 94 trial participants linking 43,538 subjects from around the globe.

Dr. Albert Bourla, DVM, Ph.D., Chairman and CEO of Pfizer, said in a statement that the first set of results from their Phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine trial offers initial evidence of the company's vaccine ability in preventing COVID-19. He added that they are reaching a severe milestone in developing vaccine programs when the world needs it most with infection rates, new records, nearing over-capacity of hospitals, and economies struggling to reopen. The release also added that they have already submitted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Earlier, it can be recalled that the U.S. FDA has given EUAs to Gilead's Remdesivir and Lilly's Bamlanivimab with specific criteria to be met for the patients to be administered with the said drugs.

Challenge on the government

In the interview with CNN, Dr. Fauci, who serves in the White House as Coronavirus Task Force, said that it would be better if government health officials can start working with U.S. President Joe Biden's transition team. He added that he has been through multiple transitions, having served 36 U.S. presidents. He stressed the importance transition process that he highlights as a smooth and important handing over the information. Despite the emergence of various drugs, Dr. Fauci still reminds the people of the importance of face masks and social distancing amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

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