Dr. Forch talks with Santa Clara County health officials about COVID-19 and resumes

Screenshots of Silicon Valley Leadership Group Annual Forum

Dr. Anthony Fauci spoke with county health officials on Friday about the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s premier infectious disease official, attended the Silicon Valley Leadership Group’s annual forum on Friday as part of a roundtable meeting with the Santa Clara County public health authorities on the COVID-19 pandemic. ..

Forch said the vaccine was “carefully optimistic” if it was approved by late November or early December and could be administered by the end of the calendar year. But he warned that Americans need to be prepared for a “very difficult and very painful winter,” as coronavirus cases are skyrocketing across the country and recording daily numbers.

The first question posed to Fauci by Silicon Valley Leadership Group CEO Ahmad Thomas was whether the country was in the midst of a second wave and 90,000 new cases were recorded daily.

“We never got out of the first wave,” Fauci replied. “That’s really a problem.”

Unlike some European countries, the United States never reached a low baseline after the first wave of incidents, Forch explained. Because part of the economy reopened in the summer, people did not properly follow strict guidelines. With hotspots across the country and an increasing number of cases in more than 40 states, Fauci has expressed concern about the spread of the virus and increased indoor activity as winter approaches.

“A few months ago, I testified in front of the Senate Committee, saying,’If you can’t control this, you could have 100,000 incidents a day,'” Fauci said. We are approaching it now. “

Dr. Sarah Cody, County Public Health Officer, and Dr. Marty Fenstershake, COVID-19 Inspector, have joined the Forch in a virtual panel. Cody discussed the county’s policy of reopening school, including wearing masks, keeping children in a small and stable cohort, and instructing students to maintain social distance.

“The programs and approaches outlined by Dr. Cody make perfect sense to me as where you are in California right now,” Forch said.

Vaccine concerns

Fauci also raised the logistical issue of allowing individual local clinics to store vaccines when they need to be kept cold.

“I don’t know which vaccine it will be, but we need to plan for it if it’s one of the vaccines that needs to be frozen at very low temperatures,” Cody said. “At the regional level, our job is regional logistics.”

Fauci sought to ease the fear of those who might not trust the final vaccine. He laughed and carefully noted that “the mixed signal and some problems that came out of Washington were the least obvious,” expressing confidence in the process by which the vaccine was being tested and developed.

“If someone tries to end-around approving something before the American people are ready, that won’t happen,” Forch said harshly. “I can promise you that. The process being carried out has nothing to do with political manipulation.”

Fenstershake said the colored community in the county may have general distrust of the government and “is very urgent to send a message about the ultimate safety of the vaccine. I’m worried about it. ” These communities are particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus because they work at the forefront, are likely to live in crowded homes, and have difficulty closing social distances.

Fauci emphasizes the importance of vaccination of blacks and browns, clinical trials should include colored races, and community leaders should spread the word that vaccines are safe. Advised.

Fauci has listed five simple steps the general public can take to avoid another shutdown: wearing a mask, social distance, crowd avoidance, outdoor activities as much as possible, and hands. To wash.

“We don’t have to accept the inevitability of these big surges we see,” he said. “Then, in the (winter months), it will be a very difficult time in the United States.”

However, Fauci warned that it was not a model of how Americans would take care of themselves during this pandemic. Due to his workload, the 79-year-old hasn’t taken a day off since January and described his time as “tough.”

“I don’t mean this in a heroic sense, but that’s exactly what it is,” he said. “It’s time to raise your heels and drink beer or something, but for now it doesn’t happen. It’s too important.”