Dr. Ashish Jha: "We have not rounded a corner" on virus vaccine
With nearly 200,000 American deaths attributed to the coronavirus pandemic, a leading public health researcher said it will be well into 2021 before life will be "meaningfully better" in parts of the United States, and disputed President Donald Trump's recent public assertions that we are "rounding a corner" on acquiring a vaccine.
Appearing on "CBS This Morning" Monday, Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of Brown University's School of Public Health, said he agrees with Dr. Anthony Fauci, who said in an interview that America may not be back to normal until the end of next year.
"We have not 'rounded a corner,'" Dr. Jha told co-host Gayle King. "I think we're going to have some very hard months ahead. I do believe 2021 will be better. And by spring to summer of '21, I think life will be meaningfully better in many parts of the country. But we still have many months to go, and I'm worried that if we take our eyes off the prize we could end up seeing a lot of infections."
Co-host Anthony Mason asked, "The CEO of Pfizer, who was on 'Face the Nation,' said there's more than a 60% chance the company will know by the end of October whether its vaccine works. What do you make of that, and what could that mean?"
"I've been really optimistic about a timeline that we have vaccines that are safe and effective this fall, but we don't know what is motivating him to say that," Dr. Jha said. "One of the things that I have called for, and others have called for, is that vaccine manufacturers should absolutely make their protocols and their research and their statistical plans all public so we can understand what's motivating him to say that, what's underlying the assessment. And without that, it's very difficult."
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/dr-ashish-jha-we-have-not-rounded-a-corner-on-virus-vaccine/ar-BB191CPK?li=BBnb7Kz