COVID-19 Vaccine Will Not Replace Public Health Measures, Fauci Says
Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks during a White House Coronavirus Task Force press briefing in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on November 19, 2020 in Washington, DC. The White House held its first Coronavirus Task Force briefing in months as cases of COVID-19 are surging across the country ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

The drugmaking industry is inching closer to releasing publicly a COVID-19 pandemic with Pfizer's and Moderna's vaccines deeming to be 95 percent effective.

However, the nation's leading infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, has advised the public to remain the practice of public health measures. Fauci said this in a virtual discussion with The Hastings Center on Thursday, according to a Fox News report.

The infectious disease expert said that the potential vaccines are intended to protect the individual from getting sick from the COVID-19. However, he added that vaccines many not prevent that person from spreading the virus to others.

Fauci discussed Pfizer's and Moderna's results and explained that the vaccines are being evaluated if they prevent clinically apparent disease in a person.

The vaccines ae also reviewed to see if it prevents severe disease in a person who was vaccinated. However, it is not yet clear what impact the vaccines may have on the people. Fauci said that they have the same issue with influenza.

He noted that the two COVID-19 vaccines are more effective than the seasonal flu vaccine.

"You can get vaccinated with influenza and you won't get sick, but it won't necessarily prevent you from getting infected - although you won't know you're infected because you'll either get mild or no symptoms," Fauci was quoted in a report.

Fauci said that the same concept applies to the potential COVID-19 vaccine.

He sid that the issue is that people are not going to be completely protected against a degree of infection that you might be able to spread to others unnoticeable.

Fauci reiterated the message countless times that getting vaccinated with a highly-effective vaccine does not mean that people are going to completely leave public health measures.

Public Health Measures

Fauci said that the public health measures should be part of the routine until the level of virus in the community drops that the risk of infection is no longer a threat.

These public health measures include avoiding large public gatherings, social distancing, and practice of frequent handwashing.

Fauci said that part of the challenges in implementing this policy is that it has to be a collective effort involving everyone.

Recent polls suggest that there is a decent amount of people hesitating to be administered with the vaccine.

This shows that mass vaccination efforts will not be an easy one.

He said that the speed of vaccine development itself is a reflection of scientific advances.

Fauci added that this means that the technology of making a vaccine is not a primitive one, rather it is the 21st century technology. He explained that speed has nothing to with compromising safety or scientific integrity.

COVID-19 cases across the country is seeing an uptick, with a number of states imposing new restrictions in their area.

Currently, the United States has more than 11.6 million cases of COVID-19, with more than 251,000 deaths.