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| Win McNamee/Pool/Getty Images |
The Senate Health Committee met today to discuss the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus. Here’s what you need to know:
Those testifying:
- Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases
- Dr. Robert Redfield, Director of the Centers of Diseases Control
- Stephen Hahn, Head of the Food and Drug Adminstration
Dr. Fauci: “There’s at least 8 candidate COVID-19 vaccines”
During Dr. Fauci’s opening statement, he shared that there is at least 8 vaccines candidates for the coronavirus in clinical development.
Head of the CDC says it’s time to rebuild the nation’s public health infrastructure
Dr. Robert Redfield, the head of the Centers of Diseases Controls, said during his opening statement “We need to rebuild our nation’s public health infrastructure... Now is the time to put it in place, for the generations to come.”
Trump czar on testing:
Brett Giroir, the admiral who is responsible for the nation’s COVID-19 testing says he sees us being able to perform between 40 and 50 million tests per month by September.
Admiral Brett Giroir -- who oversees the nation's coronavirus testing response -- says "by September ... we project that our nation will be capable of performing 40-50 million tests per month."— Geoff Bennett (@GeoffRBennett) May 12, 2020
Trump on students returning to schools in the fall:
NEW: Dr. Fauci on the prospect of students returning to school this fall:— NBC News (@NBCNews) May 12, 2020
“The idea of having treatments available or a vaccine to facilitate the re-entry of students into the fall term would be something that would be a bit of a bridge too far.” pic.twitter.com/wGpDI1X78P
Later in the briefing Dr. Fauci said “I did not mean to imply that there is a relationship between the development of treatments and vaccines with when students can go back to school.”
Death count may be higher than reported
Dr. Fauci says that “most of us feel the number of deaths are likely higher” than what is currently reported.
Fauci on possible vaccine:
Dr. Fauci remained optimistic about a possible vaccine but reminded that there’s “no guarantee that the vaccine is actually going to be effective.”
Fauci says vaccine development is one of the big unknowns in the coronavirus response— CBS News (@CBSNews) May 12, 2020
"There's no guarantee that the vaccine is actually going to be effective," he says, adding that he is still "cautiously optimistic" https://t.co/OxeN3yh9Q7 pic.twitter.com/b0lQ4TAImR
Reopening too soon could lead to “serious consequences”
Rand Paul and Fauci clash
Sen. Rand Paul argues that school decisions should be made by district to district. Paul tells Fauci: “I don’t think you’re the end all.”
Fauci: “I’m a scientist... I think we better be careful if we are not cavalier in thinking that children are completely immune to the deleterious effects.”
Fauci pushes back on Rand Paul's demand that schools reopen: "We don't know everything about this virus, and we really ought to be very careful, particularly when it comes to children." pic.twitter.com/yAF1H4cW4X— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 12, 2020
Fauci says we don’t have the virus completely under contain
Sen. Warren: “Do we have the coronavirus contained?”
Dr. Fauci: “It depends on what you mean by containment. If you think we have it completely under control, we don’t.”
Fauci on death rate:
Dr. Anthony Fauci says the U.S. death rate for the coronavirus is “unacceptable” and the country could “of course” do better
Fauci says the U.S. coronavirus death rate is "unacceptable" and the country "of course" has to do better https://t.co/OxeN3yh9Q7 pic.twitter.com/7SSZ5nPc69— CBS News (@CBSNews) May 12, 2020
Sen. Romney on testing:
Senator Mitt Romney, a well known critic of Trump, said that our testing record is “nothing to celebrate whatsoever.”
Sen. Mitt Romney criticizes the Trump administration’s progress on access to coronavirus vaccines: “I find our testing record nothing to celebrate whatsoever.” https://t.co/Wj0PoWurQ9 pic.twitter.com/vCbDzcim9l— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) May 12, 2020
Relationships with Trump
Dr. Fauci, Dr. Redfield, and Stephen Hahn all said that they do not have a confrontational relationship with the president.
Fauci says there is "not a confrontational relationship" between him and President Trump: "I give advice and opinion based on evidence-based scientific information. He hears that. He respects it." https://t.co/OxeN3yh9Q7 pic.twitter.com/nBecoaR4aJ— CBS News (@CBSNews) May 12, 2020
Video credits to ABC News, CBS News, CNN, C-SPAN, and NBC News.