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(CNN) -
As the United States surpasses 6 million cases of covid-19, the coordinator of the White House coronavirus response group urged Americans not to wait for a vaccine to stop the community spread of the virus.
"Do the right thing today," said Dr. Deborah Birx.
"Because if we do the right thing today, we will enter fall with far fewer cases."
As researchers rush to develop a vaccine to control the virus, health experts and officials continue to say that preventative measures such as wearing a mask, practicing physical distancing, and avoiding crowds can keep infections low and economies open. .
But as the pandemic drags on, experts worry that the public has grown fatigued or complacent with such measures.
"Right now, we gain freedom through the use of our masks and physical distancing," Birx said.
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She urged vigilance, noting that crowds gathered at concert venues can spread the virus, but so can people gathered in the backyard of a house.
“We know that we cannot always be perfect.
We know that we will publish this message about private meetings and something will happen and you will realize that you have been in a situation, you have been surrounded by people, that you have not used a mask, "said Birx.
"This is the time to ensure that you are protecting others in your home and around you by wearing a mask when you are around them, even if they are familiar."
Vaccine Reviews Seek to Increase Public Confidence
Birx said she is hopeful that Americans will choose to get vaccinated once the data is available to show that the vaccines in progress are safe and effective.
A CNN poll this month shows that 40% of Americans do not want to receive a coronavirus vaccine when it is available, even if it is free and easily accessible.
Such a low absorption of the vaccine could hamper the ability to control the virus and return to normal.
To increase public confidence, several prominent physicians and experts have called for the creation of an independent commission separate from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to review data from coronavirus vaccine trials.
«I hear this from my colleagues, from doctors and nurses: they are not anti-vaccines.
They are vaccine professionals.
They vaccinated their own children.
But they are skeptical about this vaccine, ”said Dr. Kathryn Stephenson, director of the clinical trials unit at the Virology and Vaccine Research Center at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
Part of the problem is that the FDA is perceived to be tainted due to premature clearance of hydroxychloroquine and convalescent plasma, said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, chief of infectious diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital.
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But Paul Mango, deputy chief of policy staff at the U.S. Department of Health Human Services, said the eventual approval of the coronavirus vaccine will be the same as any other vaccine.
"There is a thing called the Data Security Monitoring Board (DSMB), an independent body that is assigned to each clinical trial," Mango said during a conference call.
“We don't have information about the data until the DSMB says we can see it.
They can go back and say, 'This is not a good vaccine.'
They could come back even before we have 30,000 people signed up and say 'We have enough.
This looks great. '
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Cases in Florida and Georgia have decreased
Although the number of cases continues to rise across the country, at least two states that had previously seen an increase are now reporting some improvement.
The Georgia Department of Public Health reported 1,298 new cases of Covid-19 on Sunday, marking the first time the state has reported fewer than 1,300 daily cases in more than two months.
Florida, meanwhile, reported its lowest daily death toll in months Sunday: 14.
None of the states have reached those benchmarks since June 22.
Florida and Georgia are among the top five states in the country in terms of total infection counts.
'We have power against this virus, but it requires that we all exercise our power together'
The coronavirus remains a serious threat in the US, but the knowledge gained about the virus over the past six months means that Americans have power against it, Birx said.
“We see numbers on television and in the news every day of the number of Americans who have lost their lives to this virus.
We don't lose that many Americans to a virus like the flu every year, ”Birx said during a Minnesota media appearance.
So this is a serious threat.
But, he said, the United States knows how to stop transmission.
The past six months of the pandemic have provided insight into why masks are important, that homemade two-layer masks are effective and physical distancing is important, Birx said.
“Not only is the virus real, the consequences of the virus are real.
The hospitalizations we still have each week are real.
The amount of Americans that we have lost to this virus is real, "said Birx.
"But what is also real is that we have a way to prevent its spread, and I think this really should be a balanced message of 'we have power against this virus, but it requires that we all exercise our power together.'
- CNN's Elizabeth Cohen, Naomi Thomas, Natasha Chen, Melissa Alonso and Maggie Fox contributed to this report.
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