WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th August, 2020) The effectiveness of the best new vaccines against the novel coronavirus may be 50 percent to 60 percent or as high 90 percent, but there is no way of knowing until the trials for them are done, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci said on Thursday.
"We don't know how effective a vaccine will be, we hope 80 to 90 percent, but we haven't done the trials or the statistical projections yet," Fauci told an online press conference at an Alliance for Health event. "It may be more effective than 50 to 60 percent, but we don't know."
However, Fauci also expressed optimism that the novel coronavirus pandemic could be brought under control without the need for another national lockdown.
"If we get a safe and effective vaccine, which I am cautiously optimistic that we will, if everyone pulls together with no weak links in the chain, we can get this under control without having to lock down. There is a way in the middle where we can open up the country," Fauci said.
Private business, the scientific community and different government departments and agencies were cooperating with unparalleled speed and effectiveness in trying to develop an effective vaccine and deal with the crisis, Fauci added.
