On Tuesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “AC360,” White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain said that the administration has been advised by White House Chief Medical Adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci that herd immunity is “probably a phrase that doesn’t really apply here to this particular virus and this circumstance.”
Host Anderson Cooper asked, “Is herd immunity still the goal of the administration? Because, as you know, Dr. Fauci, among others, have sort of backed away from using that term as a benchmark.”
Klain said, “I think that I’ll let Dr. Fauci comment obviously on the science of that. What he’s advised us is that it’s probably a phrase that doesn’t really apply here to this particular virus and this circumstance. Our goal, as you noted, Anderson, is to get to 70% of the country with one shot, 160 million Americans fully vaccinated by July 4. If we get there, what the experts like Dr. Fauci, Dr. Walensky, others tell us is that number of cases should be down dramatically, the number of deaths should be down further. There will just be a lot less COVID and a lot fewer people getting sick from COVID in the country.”
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