Fauci tells Congress a vaccine 'likely,' but not in time for school

<p>Dr. Anthony Fauci told senators Tuesday that he is “cautiously optimistic” that one of the coronavirus vaccine candidates currently in development will prove to be effective against COVID-19, but that “there is no guarantee.”</p><p>“It’s definitely not a long shot,” said the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) while testifying before the Senate Health Committee. “It is much more likely than not that we will get a vaccine.”</p><p>Fauci also dismissed the prospect that the virus might disappear without a vaccine.</p><p>“That is just not going to happen because it’s such a highly transmissible virus,” Fauci said. “Even if we get better control over the summer months, it is likely that there will be virus somewhere on this planet that will eventually get back to us.”</p><p>Fauci cautioned that not following federal guidelines, such as testing people for infection, tracing their contacts and isolating them to prevent the disease from spreading, could lead to "some suffering and death” that could be avoided.</p><p>Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the committee’s chairman, said that testing would pave the road for people returning safely to work and school.</p><p>When asked by Alexander what schools should know about re-opening in the fall Fauci says "the idea of having treatments or a vaccine..ready by the fall..would be something of a bridge too far."</p>