Covid vaccine: Fauci says ‘ordinary citizens’ to get jab by spring

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday

Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US

Please enter a valid email address

Please enter a valid email address

SIGN UP

I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy

Ordinary Americans should get a coronavirus vaccine by April or June at the latest, one of the country's top infectious disease experts has said.

Dr Anthiny Fauci, who has been at the forefront of the US response to the pandemic, said a vaccine programme is likely to be rolled out in December.

Healthcare providers putting themselves at risk and the vulnerable are first in line to get the shot, Dr Fauci said.

When those two groups have been catered for, health officials will then make the jab available to "ordinary citizens" by the end of "April or June - somewhere around that time", Dr Fauci added.

His comments came after America reached a grim new milestone on Wednesday, recording some 140,000 new infections in the previous 24 hours - a new daily record, according to New York Times data.

Hospital wards also continue to pile up as the infections tear through the country heading into winter season, when flu will also hit millions of Americans.

The virus was running riot as the 2020 race for the White House drew to a close. Donald Trump has reportedly not attended a Covid-19 task force meeting in months.

Speaking on ABC's 'Good Morning America' show on Thursday morning, Dr Fauci said the outgoing president's refusal to accept defeat in the election has not hampered vaccine progress, although the White House impasse was "challenging".

"Certainly it's not having a negative impact on our ability to develop the vaccine and virus countermeasures," he said. "The medical part of it just keeps going forward, I know this is what my colleagues and I do every day".

"It is still a major challenge — we're in a difficult situation — but we've just got to keep pushing".

Dr Fauci said that, in order to get the virus under control, it is vital for Americans to follow public health guidance, adding there is no mandate for the sort of national lockdowns seen elsewhere in the world.

"We would like to stay away from that because there is no appetite for locking down among the American people," he said. "But I believe that we can [limit the spread] without a lockdown, I really do."

"If we can execute the public health measures, we wouldn't have to do that. The best strategy to avoid locking down is to intensify the public health measures."

When asked if he had any positive news for those suffering from long Covid, Dr Fauci said "the cavalry is coming".

"If we can just hang in there, keep with the public health measures, we're going to get this under control, I promise you."