Dr. Anthony Fauci has long cited 60% to 70% as the level of COVID infection / vaccination the country needs to achieve collective immunity – for the disease to disappear and life to return to normal, writes Donald G. of New York McNeil Jr. Times
But, but, but: “About a month ago, he started saying ’70, 75 percent ‘in television interviews. And last week, in an interview for CNBC News, he said ’75, 80, 85 percent’ and ‘ 75 to over 80 percent, ‘”McNeil writes.
What’s new: “In a telephone interview,” continues McNeil, “Fauci acknowledged that he slowly, but deliberately, moved the beams.”
- “He’s doing this, he said, partly based on new sciences and partly on his intuition that the country is finally ready to hear what he really thinks.”
Fauci’s confession:
“When polls said only half of all Americans would get the vaccine, I was saying that collective immunity would take 70 to 75 percent … So when the most recent polls said 60 percent or more would accept, I thought : “I can poke a little bit”, so I went to 80, 85. We need to be a little humble here … We really don’t know what the real number is. I think the real range is somewhere between 70 to 90 percent. I will say 90 percent. “
Go deeper: Continue reading McNeil “How Much Herd Immunity Is Enough?” (subscription.)