Fauci testifies on coronavirus response

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Robert Redfield, director at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other White House coronavirus task members testified before the Senate Health Committee today about the Trump administration’s response to the pandemic.

They were grilled on vaccines, testing, masks and the reopening of schools.

Here are four key lines from today’s hearing:

Dr. Stephen Hahn, the US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner, and Dr. Robert Redfield, the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, testified that the coronavirus vaccine approval process would be transparent amid concerns that the process would be politicized.

Hahn and Redfield testified on Wednesday that each potential vaccine candidate would be reviewed by advisory committees in public meetings at their agencies and that the agencies’ findings would be made public for each product before approval.

Redfield also said, “you should anticipate this will be a public discussion,” noting the only caveats to conducting the approval process publicly would be concerns about either national security or proprietary information on the commercial side.

He explained the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices would publicly deliberate and make recommendations on how a coronavirus vaccine will be used in the United States after the FDA makes its own authorization recommendation.

Hahn told Sen. Mitt Romney that the FDA’s entire process of making a recommendation can take “weeks, sometimes months,” and explained the agency hasn’t made a commitment to a vaccine timeline because they don’t yet know the complexity or volume of the data on the products.

However, he assured the senator that his agency would rise to the moment.

“We do feel the urgency of the moment. We do take very much…. very seriously our responsibility to protect American lives. We will not delay, but we will not cut corners in our process,” Hahn said.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said it is a myth that you can get Covid-19 by getting the vaccine. 

Fauci was asked by Sen. Lamar Alexander during the Senate Health Committee on Wednesday, “If I take a shot to get the vaccine, does that give me Covid?” 

Drilling it home, Alexander again asked, “One of the risks of a vaccine shot is not getting Covid?” 

Fauci responded, “That is correct. That that risk does not exist.” 

Dr. Robert Redfield, director at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, would not comment about any political pushback he received after making a comment about masks last week.  

On Sept. 16, Redfield told the Senate Appropriations subcommittee, “I might even go so far as to say that this face mask is more guaranteed to protect me against Covid than when I take a Covid vaccine.” Later that day, President Trump said Redfield was “confused” when he made that comment.  

On Wednesday, during the Senate Health Committee hearing, Redfield was asked if he received any political pushback about his mask comments. 

“It’s not going to be modulated by whether individuals really appreciate what I say or don’t appreciate what I say,” he said.  

Redfield said he wouldn’t comment on any conversations he’s had with the President. 

“I’ve total confidence in the importance of vaccines, and ultimately it’s going to be vaccines that are going to get us back to the way of life,” the CDC director said.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told the Senate Health Committee on Wednesday that a “large proportion” of the United States will not be vaccinated against Covid-19 this year.  

If a vaccine is approved and begins to get rolled out by the end of the year, Fauci said, “If you’re talking about who’s going to get vaccinated in December, or November, it is not going to be a large proportion of the population.”  

When you get to January and February of next year, then further into April, that’s when the US could potentially see “a total of about 700 million” doses, he added.

Those prioritized for an early vaccine will likely be health care providers and those who are vulnerable, with underlying conditions, he said.  

At today’s Senate hearing, Dr. Robert Redfield, the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the agency changed its controversial testing guidelines for people without Covid-19 symptoms when “it became progressively apparent that the guidelines were not interpreted in the manner in which we had intended them to be interpreted.”

But CNN’s senior medical correspondent slammed the director’s explanation, saying he is “gaslighting people,” which is contributing to the lack of public trust in the public health community and vaccines.

“Come on. He’s gaslighting people. Nobody misunderstood it. The CDC said something that was not correct and so they changed it. And this is one little chip in the trust of the American people. If Dr. Redfield could just say, ‘Look, we said something in the wrong way and so we’re changing it.’ I think people would trust him and would trust the CDC.”

Some background: On Aug. 26, the CDC altered its testing guidance to say some people without symptoms may not need to be tested, even if they’ve been in close contact with someone known to have the virus. 

CNN reported the sudden change came as a result of pressure from the upper ranks of the Trump administration, according to a federal health official close to the process.

Redfield put out a statement the next day, saying the agency was “placing an emphasis on testing individuals with symptomatic illness” and other vulnerable populations with the change. 

Hear from CNN’s senior medical correspondent: 

Dr. Robert Redfield, director at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the document posted and subsequently removed that explained how Covid-19 spreads was “not technically reviewed” before it was posted. 

During the Senate Health Committee hearing on Wednesday, Redfield told Sen. Tim Kaine the difference between the two documents was about “the balance of the component that aerosolized transmission plays compared to droplet transmission.” 

Referring to portions of document that were reverted back to older guidance, Kaine asked Redfield if it was accurate to say “people who are infected but do not show symptoms can spread the virus?” 

Redfield replied, “absolutely they can.” 

Again referring to the version that was taken down, Kaine noted the document said “there is growing evidence that droplets in airborne particles can remain suspended in the air and be breathed in by others, and travel distances beyond six feet, for example, during choir practice, in restaurants or in fitness classes.”

“Is that statement accurate?” Kaine asked.

“There’s definitely evidence of that,” Redfield said.

“There is going to be a technically reviewed document on this issue coming on the website,” Redfield said.  

Republican Sen. Rand Paul challenged Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, over whether coronavirus restrictions are effective in curbing the spread of the disease.

Fauci was quick to respond to Paul’s comparison of the US and Sweden’s response to curbing the virus, and Paul’s suggestion that their death rate is lower because they had fewer restrictions. Fauci said it was inappropriate to compare the US and Sweden, and defended the US response. 

“I don’t regret saying that the only way we could have really stopped the explosion of infection, was by essentially, when I say shutting down, I mean essentially having the physical separation and kind of recommendations that we made,” Fauci said.

The Kentucky lawmaker then went on to claim that Fauci was a “big fan of Cuomo and the shutdown in New York.”

Paul continued to push back against the infectious disease expert.

Fauci told the committee: “This happens with Sen. Rand all the time.”

He then spoke directly to Paul, saying, “you are not listening to what the director of the CDC said” about immunity rates in New York.

Paul tested positive for coronavirus in March.

See the exchange here: 

Dr. Robert Redfield, the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, addressed recent reversals in his agency’s guidance on both coronavirus testing and transmission on Wednesday, assuring lawmakers that the public can trust information from the nation’s top health agency.

Redfield testified on Wednesday that the intent of a controversial revision in testing guidance was not to limit testing, but rather to “re-engage the medical and public health community” in the process “so that there was a public health action that happened as a consequence of every test.”

On Aug. 26, the CDC altered its testing guidance to say some people without symptoms may not need to be tested, even if they’ve been in close contact with someone known to have the virus. CNN reported the sudden change came as a result of pressure from the upper ranks of the Trump administration, according to a federal health official close to the process.

Redfield put out a statement the next day, saying the agency was “placing an emphasis on testing individuals with symptomatic illness” and other vulnerable populations with the change. 

Adm. Brett Giroir, a member of the White House coronavirus task force, concurred with Redfield that the guidance was “widely misinterpreted.”

The agency rolled back this change on Friday, once again stressing that anyone who has been in contact with an infected person should be tested.

Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the committee, also pressed Redfield on the CDC’s abrupt reversal on guidance about how coronavirus is transmitted in which it removed language about airborne transmission it had posted just days earlier.

“So here is my question to you, if I want the best guidance on the latest science so I can protect myself and my family, can I trust CDC’s website to give me that information?” Murray asked.

“Yes,” Redfield said, going on to emphasize his agency’s commitment to providing Americans with the best public health recommendations possible.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told lawmakers we “need to be careful” about what long-term effects Covid-19 might leave with people for the rest of their lives.  

Fauci told the Senate Health Committee on Wednesday, that a recent study in non-athletes who have recovered from Covid-19, shows that in their MRIs “they found that about 60 to 70% of them had indication of inflammatory disease in the heart. Interestingly, they were relatively asymptomatic.” 

“The other things is that they could wind up when you have inflammation, you could have scarring, that could lead to arrhythmias later on, or that could be lead that could lead to cardiomyopathies,” he explained.  

“It’s something we really need to keep our eye out on.” 

Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, testifies during a US Senate Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing on Wednesday.

Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said a majority of Americans remain susceptible to Covid-19.

Speaking to the Senate Health Committee on Wednesday, Redfield said, “CDC is in the process of a very large, sequential study across the entire United States, measuring serology.”

“It varies in different geographic parts from states,” he said. “We’ll have that finalized and probably published in the next week or so.”

“But it does show that a majority of Americans are still susceptible to this virus,” Redfield said.

See the moment here:

Dr. Stephen Hahn, commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration, on Wednesday made a commitment to America that “FDA will not authorize or approve a vaccine that we would not feel comfortable giving to our families.”

“FDA will not permit any pressure from anyone to change that,” he committed.

Hahn said he “will fight for science” and “will put the interest of the American people before anything else.”

Watch:

Adm. Brett Giroir, assistant secretary for health at the US Department of Health and Human Services, said the US has performed more than 106 million tests for Covid-19 since the pandemic began.

Speaking to members of the Senate Health Committee on Wednesday, Giroir said on 10 separate days, the US performed more than 1 million tests per day.

Giroir said we are now at an “inflection point” when it comes to testing.

“This month we will have available, on average, 3 million tests per day – nearly half of which will be rapid point of care,” he said.

Watch:

The Director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Robert Redfield stressed that while young people may be less likely to become seriously ill from Covid-19, they can still spread the virus.

Redfield, speaking at a Senate hearing, said 18- to 25-year olds make up about 26% of new infections — more than any other group.

He urged all Americans regardless of age continue to follow the advice of health experts:

“Wear a mask, maintain social distance, practice routine hand washings with vigilance, be smart about crowds and stay home when you’re feeling sick,” he said.

Clinical observations show that Covid-19 affects certain individuals in a way that they can experience symptoms of the virus for weeks or months despite having virologically recovered, Dr. Anthony Fauci said during a Senate hearing on Wednesday.

“A number of individuals, who virologically have recovered from infection, in fact, have persistence — measured in weeks to months — of symptomatology that does not appear to be due to persistence of the virus,” he told the Senate committee.

These individuals have fatigue, myalgia, fever and involvement of the neurological system as well as cognitive abnormalities such as the inability to concentrate, Dr. Fauci further reported in his remarks.

Additionally, “a disturbing number of individuals” who have completely recovered and apparently are asymptomatic, are found to have “inflammation of the heart,” when they have sensitive imaging technology such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging [MRI,] he said.

“These are the kind of things that tell us we must be humble, that we do not completely understand the nature of this illness,” Dr. Fauci added.

Watch:

Dr.Anthony Fauci arrives to testify during a House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis hearing in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, September 23.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, said in opening remarks at the Senate hearing this morning that there are three “platform candidate vaccines” that have entered into phase three trial.

 “Very soon there will be a fourth,” he added.

Fauci said he predicts that we will know later in the year whether these vaccines are safe and effective.

“As I mentioned to this committee, we feel cautiously optimistic that we will be able to have a safe and effective vaccine, although there is never a guarantee of that,” Fauci said.

Some background: Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine candidate began phase 3 trials in the United States Wednesday. Trials for the single-dose vaccine, which uses a human adenovirus, will include up to 60,000 adult participants at nearly 215 sites in the US and internationally. 

Moderna, Pfizer/BioNTech and AstraZeneca also have Covid-19 vaccine candidates in phase 3 trials in the United States, although AstraZeneca’s trial is currently paused.

Johnson & Johnson’s phase 3 trial is being conducted in collaboration with Operation Warp Speed, the federal government’s coronavirus vaccine effort.

Watch:

This September 2020 photo provided by Johnson & Johnson shows a single-dose Covid-19 vaccine being developed by the company.

Ahead of today’s Senate hearing with Dr. Anthony Fauci and other coronavirus task force members, Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine candidate began phase 3 trials in the United States. Trials for the single-dose vaccine, which uses a human adenovirus, will include up to 60,000 adult participants at nearly 215 sites in the US and internationally. 

The vaccine candidate was developed by Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson. Phase 3 trials will begin immediately, with the first participants receiving doses Wednesday, Johnson & Johnson Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Paul Stoffels said on a call with reporters Tuesday.

Initial findings from the vaccine’s phase 1/2 trials in the US and Belgium suggest the vaccine provokes an immune response and is safe enough to move into large-scale trials. 

Phase 3 trials will examine the safety and effectiveness of a single dose against a placebo to prevent symptomatic Covid-19. The fact that the trial will examine the efficacy of a single dose of the vaccine, instead of two doses, should expedite results, said Stoffels.

Trials will run in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, South Africa and the United States. Johnson & Johnson intends to run a separate phase 3 trial in collaboration with the UK government to examine the effectiveness of two doses.

If the vaccine is proven safe and effective, Johnson & Johnson said it expects the first doses to be available for emergency use authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration by early 2021. 

Moderna, Pfizer/BioNTech and AstraZeneca also have Covid-19 vaccine candidates in phase 3 trials in the United States, although AstraZeneca’s trial is currently paused.

Johnson & Johnson’s phase 3 trial is being conducted in collaboration with Operation Warp Speed, the federal government’s coronavirus vaccine effort.

Dr. Gupta discusses Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine:

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee is holding a hearing this morning at 10:00 a.m. ET on the federal response to the coronavirus crisis.

The hearing comes as the US reports more than 200,000 people died in the country from Covid-19 and continues to lead the world in total confirmed cases.

Witnesses include:

The health experts are expected to be grilled on vaccine development and schools reopening.

President Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Pittsburgh International Airport on September 22.

Despite the mounting coronavirus death toll in the US, President Trump once again gave himself an A+ in his handling of the pandemic during an interview with “Fox and Friends” earlier this week.

Trump also insinuated that Pfizer looks to be the frontrunner in the race for a vaccine. When asked who was closest, Trump answered: “Well Pfizer’s doing really well… Johnson and Johnson has an incredible vaccine that’s really doing well. That’ll probably be a little bit later and Moderna’s doing very well also.” 

This weekend CNN obtained audio recordings from a conversation Bob Woodward had with Trump in July in which Trump gave himself an A on his handling of the pandemic.

Dr. Anthony Fauci said “vaccines are being produced to be ready to administer – if we get a good signal that it works.” But projecting when that might be is just that: a projection.

Speaking to CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta during a CITIZEN by CNN Conference on Tuesday, Fauci said, “People can have projections of what they think might happen.” But no one really knows when a vaccine will be ready, he said.

“But today, Sanjay, nobody knows what those data are because no one has looked at them. They are blinded,” he said. 

Despite this, Fauci remains “cautiously optimistic” – after reading preliminary studies – that we will have a positive effect when it comes to a vaccine. 

Where things stand in the vaccine race: There are at least 38 vaccines in human trials around the world – 9 Covid-19 vaccine candidates are in late-stage, large clinical trials as of Sept. 22, according to the World Health Organization.

Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine candidate began phase 3 trials in the US on Wednesday. Trials for the single-dose vaccine, which uses a human adenovirus, will include up to 60,000 adult participants at nearly 215 sites in the US and internationally. 

Moderna, Pfizer/BioNTech and AstraZeneca also have Covid-19 vaccine candidates in phase 3 trials in the US, although AstraZeneca’s trial is currently paused.

Last week, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Dr. Robert Redfield told a Senate Appropriations committee hearing that it would likely be the second or third quarter of next year – late spring or summer – before widespread vaccination could be underway in the US.

President Trump meanwhile claimed Friday there will be enough coronavirus vaccines for every American by April.

“As soon as a vaccine is approved the administration will deliver it to the American people immediately,” Trump said at a White House news briefing on Friday. “Distribution will begin with 24 hours after notice.”