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Anthony Fauci: Top virologist sees USA "on the wrong course" in the Corona crisis

2021-07-26T01:09:18.209Z


The infections are increasing dramatically, at the same time many Americans are refusing the corona vaccination: Virologist Anthony Fauci warns of a new escalation in the USA. The situation is "very frustrating".


Enlarge image

Virus expert Anthony Fauci (in February)

Photo: SAUL LOEB / AFP

In the spring, the USA seemed to be on the right track.

Shortly after President Joe Biden took office, the vaccination campaign was in full swing, and millions of people in the country were quickly receiving their needles to protect against coronavirus infection.

The daily number of infections also fell rapidly during this time.

In the meantime, however, the trend has reversed: The vaccinations are only progressing slowly, and at the same time the number of cases is skyrocketing.

The virologist and White House advisor, Anthony Fauci, has now spoken in clear terms about the situation in the country.

The US was in an "unnecessary disaster," he told CNN.

"We are on the wrong course," continues Fauci.

He himself was "very frustrated" with the behavior of certain groups.

Currently, around half of those eligible for vaccination in the country have full protection, that is around 163 million people.

But the number of vaccine skeptics or even refusal to be vaccinated is also considerable - and a decisive reason for the slowdown in the vaccination campaign.

At the same time, the number of new infections in the USA has been increasing again for a few weeks, the delta variant being responsible for this.

The situation is particularly tense in countries with a low vaccination rate.

These include Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Missouri, and Nevada.

Senior Republicans are also promoting vaccinations

According to a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, the vaccination rate in the districts where many voted for Biden in the presidential election is significantly higher than where the then President Donald Trump received many votes.

A poll by the Washington Post and ABC News comes to the conclusion that significantly more Democratic supporters than Republicans have been vaccinated so far.

"It's a problem that especially affects unvaccinated people," Anthony Fauci told CNN: "That's why we're out there practically begging for people to get vaccinated."

After all, high representatives of the Republican Party have openly spoken out in favor of vaccinations.

"These syringes need to be in everyone's arms as soon as possible," said Senate minority Republican leader Mitch McConnell recently.

But there is no unified position among them - many conservatives and, above all, Trump supporters are much more cautious than McConnell.

Fox News presenter surprised with vaccination statement

A statement by the top presenter of the conservative TV broadcaster Fox News, Sean Hannity, caused a surprise.

He believed in the science of vaccination, he said on his broadcast.

A short time later he emphasized that this was not a vaccination call for all Americans.

Many of the broadcaster's moderators continue to rail against the vaccination anyway.

US President Biden recently warned of a "pandemic among the unvaccinated".

Getting vaccinated is the "most patriotic" thing citizens can do now.

The government also sees misinformation on social media such as Facebook as one reason for the lack of willingness to vaccinate.

"You're killing people," said Biden.

Later he relativized his drastic choice of words in the direction of Facebook - but again emphasized the underlying message.

jok / dpa

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2021-07-26

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