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Fauci Says He Wouldn't be Surprised if New Variant is Already in U.S.; Soon, Fauci, Azar, and Collins Receive Moderna Vaccination. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired December 22, 2020 - 10:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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[10:00:00]

POPPY HARLOW, CNN NEWSROOM: Good morning, everyone, top of the hour, I'm Poppy Harlow. Jim has a well-deserved week off.

Well, they have been leading the nation during this pandemic, and now, this hour, top health officials are about to be among the first to get vaccinated for COVID. Dr. Anthony Fauci, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins among those getting the first dose of the Moderna vaccine moments from now.

This all comes as worries grow of a fast spreading COVID variant. Right now, over 40 countries are banning or restricting travel from the United Kingdom where the mutation was first identified. And today, President Trump is considering a plan where U.K. travelers would have to prove that they're negative before they enter the U.S. But Dr. Fauci says that variant is likely already here.

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DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: When you have this amount a spread within a place like the U.K., that you really need to assume that it's here already, it may not and certainly is not the dominant strain but I would not be surprised at all if it is already here.

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HARLOW: Big question now, will the vaccines already rolling out protect against this mutation, this variant. The CEO leading Pfizer's vaccine is confident it will. We are on it as cases in the U.S. climb, 190,000 more cases just yesterday alone. Nearly 1,700 people in America died from COVID yesterday. And right now a new highest ever record for hospitalizations, if you can believe it, 115,000 people hospitalized with COVID.

So let's begin this hour with our Senior Medical Correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen. Elizabeth, they're tragic numbers and they come at the same time that there's more hope in this country because there's a second like authorized vaccine rolling out going into the arm of Dr. Fauci, among others this morning. ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Seeing someone like Dr. Fauci get a vaccine is so important. I can't even -- I've lost count of the number people, Poppy, who have asked me over the past week or two, should I get the vaccine? People are scared of this vaccine, not everybody but some people are. And I think when you see Dr. Anthony Fauci, as respected as he is by so many people, get this shot, I think that really will mean something to people. If he trusts it, they should trust it.

HARLOW: Elizabeth, thank you. We're just looking at those live pictures and while we're waiting. So stick around because we're going to see him and a few others get vaccinated in a moment.

Meantime, frontline health care workers in New Jersey, they are among those getting Moderna's vaccine as we speak. Alexandra Field was there when an ICU nurse got the first dose at a hospital in New Jersey just last hour. You spoke with the nurse after?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I did, Poppy. And you can't overstate her excitement. I know we have all seen these shots of people getting shots now, but they matter so much to everyone who is getting them, and that's because these are the frontline workers who are going first, the men and women who have really put their lives on the line.

Rene Stephens, she was first up this morning, she's a registered nurse, she has been working in the ICU unit since COVID came to New Jersey. She talked about the toll that it has taken on her, not just being a witness to so much death but the toll that it has taken on her in terms of being a witness to so many who have had to die alone without their families by their side. She talked to me a little more about what this shot means to her. Listen to this.

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RENE STEPHENS, CRITICAL CARE NURSE: It is really hard to imagine if you're not actually in the COVID unit to understand how sick our patients really are. They come in incredibly sick and in spite of everything that we do to try to get them better, many of them don't make it out of the ICU.

I'm incredibly blessed to be able to have this opportunity to get this vaccine because I know that this is just one more piece of the puzzle that we need to get us where we need to be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FIELD: And that is really the message she wants to send. She said she had no hesitation to volunteer to be first. She has no concerns about her safety. In fact, she thinks this is a commitment to her safety. But more than that, she said she wanted the image of her getting the shot because she wants it to be used as an example for others. She said she has concerned particularly within her church community. What she's hearing about hesitancy, she hopes this will help. Poppy?

[10:05:00] HARLOW: Alexandra Field, thank you. We certainly hope it will help as well.

Let's bring in Dr. Jeffrey Gold, Chancellor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, is with us. Also with us, Elizabeth Cohen.

Guys, it's going to be a little fluid here because we want people to see Dr. Fauci and Secretary Azar getting the vaccinated live, so we may pause for that. But, Dr. Gold, you have been with us through this whole journey. I remember when some of the first folks who got COVID and were exposed and came off those cruise ships went to your hospital. What is it like sitting here today with two authorized vaccines that are 95-plus percent effective in less than a year?

DR. JEFFREY GOLD, CHANCELLOR, UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA MEDICAL CENTER: You know, Poppy, it's absolutely historic. It's a testament to what science can do when partnered with our government and has a singular purpose ahead, which is to put an end to this pandemic. You know, vaccines that are 95 percent effective are almost unheard of, let alone being designed, manufactured and now shipped in less than a year.

Obviously, we need to get them into the arms of millions and millions of Americans, and today will go a long way to increase confidence, I hope, but just a tremendous achievement.

HARLOW: Elizabeth, on the heels of that achievement is this troubling news that a new variant, although not more deadly, seems to be more transmissible. So, I suppose, what's your message to everyone watching that may be letting down their guard a little bit because people are getting vaccinated? In actuality, don't they need to wear masks even more if a new variant is more quickly transmitted?

COHEN: Absolutely. I mean, the incoming director of the CDC, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, says that she is telling her family you'll be wearing a mask well into 2021. Masks and social distancing, I'm sorry to say this because it's such a bummer, but they are here to stay for many months into the future even as people get vaccinated.

Now, that's not connected to this mutation. That's anyways, even if this mutation has never reared its head. But given this mutation that's coming out of the U.K. it does bring up questions whether the vaccine will be quite as effective.

Scientists are telling me that they're concerned that it may not be quite as effective against this variant as against the variants that were here before. They think it will be largely effective but there's a possibility it may not be quite as effective.

And so all the more reason we need to be careful with masks and social distancing and why we should all get vaccines when we can get them. The more of us who are vaccinated, the better.

HARLOW: For sure. Dr. Gold, I wonder what your thoughts are on this news -- I'm just monitoring if we're going to take this -- what your thoughts are on the news of the new variant? And if there's one, can there be more?

GOLD: Well, the virus, the SARS Cov-2 virus, which causes the disease, has been mutating since it was very first identified in Wuhan City in China. There are literally hundreds of mutations that have been identified. And depending on which part of the world you look at, whether it's Europe, South America, the U.S., et cetera, you can actually trace the lineage of the virus spread by the mutation patterns.

Now, this particular mutation is somewhat different and that it's more of the bases. It's 23 out of 30,000 bases, which doesn't sound like very much but it happens to be in the spike region of the virus, which is exactly the protein complex that the vaccines aim at and try to render useless.

And, therefore, I think the concept is that we really don't know but science will tell us in a very, very near future, both in the laboratory and in clinical reality when there are a lot of people who are going to be exposed to this new strain who have been immunized in Great Britain. And we'll see whether their prevalence of infection is going to be the same or reduced.

It's probably going to be somewhere in the middle. It's not going to be yes or no but it's going to be even slightly less effective or somewhere in that range or identical, hopefully identical.

HARLOW: Okay. Stand by if you would, Dr. Gold and also Elizabeth Cohen. Let's get a break in here. We're going to come back on the other side and you'll hear from Dr. Fauci and others. We'll be right back.

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[10:10:00]

HARLOW: Let's listen to Dr. Fauci just before he gets vaccinated.

FAUCI: -- basic research conducted here at NIH by our scientists as well as by our grantees and contractors over the years. This, what we're seeing now, is the culmination of years of research which have led to a phenomenon that has truly been unprecedented, and that is to go from the realization that we're dealing with a new pathogen, a virus that was described in January of this year, to less than one year later to have vaccines that are going into the arms of so many people, including myself. And so, I consider it an honor to be part of this process. So thank you very much.

And now it gives me great pleasure to introduce to you, the secretary of HHS, Alex Azar.

ALEX AZAR, SECRETARY, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: Thank you, everyone, for joining us at the NIH today on this proud and happy occasion. I want to express my deep gratitude to Dr. Collins, Dr. Fauci and so many members of the NIH team for their hard work throughout this pandemic, and especially on various elements of Operation Warp Speed. I also want to recognize and thank the staff of the clinical center in particular. You have continued to provide care for patients who badly need it during this difficult time and your work is heroic. I myself am a patient of the NIH clinical center.

I'm so pleased to be here for this official kickoff of the vaccine developed by the NIH Vaccine Research Center, Moderna, BARDA and other research partners and I'm pleased to be getting this vaccine myself.

We've all said it is nothing short of miraculous to have a safe and effective vaccine within one year of a novel virus becoming known to the world. But when we need a medical miracle, we know where to look. We look to the brilliant, dedicated scientists at the NIH and we look to passionate, relentless researchers at America's innovative biotech companies.

As a member of the HHS family, it fills me with great pride that the NIH and other parts of HHS played such a significant role in developing this vaccine, which will save thousands and thousands of lives and help bring this dark chapter to an end. In the long history of the NIH, this is one of your finest accomplishments.

I also want to recognize the years of work and investment that went into delivering this vaccine. It took more than just one remarkable year but years of dedication to develop the mRNA vaccine technology that many ones considered a long shot. Once we have defeated this pandemic, I believe that both the success of Operation Warp Speed and the mRNA platform technology pioneered by NIH and BARDA should reinvigorate our optimism about the frontiers of medical science and how we can bring the public and private sectors together to tackle our toughest challenges.

[10:15:05]

When I look back at my time at HHS, putting together Operation Warp Speed will be one of my proudest memories not only because OWS vaccines will save lives but because they have reminded Americans to think big. When the government and industry charged together towards a really bold goal, we can achieve unbelievable things.

I know that these kinds of efforts have been a challenge for Dr. Francis Collins, the active partnership he mentioned, which he has spearheaded under OWS, involves more than 20 pharmaceutical companies, other government agencies and other partners. And the NIH has also continued to expand its accelerating medicine's partnership for other serious health challenges, like Alzheimer's and schizophrenia.

To close, I will note that, as extraordinary as this scientific achievement is, getting this vaccine is more or less just like any other vaccine we receive. We have to follow the right mask-wearing and social distancing precautions today, but, otherwise, this is just like NIH health care workers or HHS employees getting their annual flu shot.

Americans should also know that this vaccine has been through the kind of searching and independent review that they expect for any drug or vaccine at the Food and Drug Administration. I made it a personal priority to ensure that we were not cutting corners in this development process, that the standards and data, being used were fully transparent and that the final decisions made on these vaccines were made by the same career FDA scientists would make the decisions on any other vaccine.

I'm honored to be receiving this vaccine today and Americans can be confident in this vaccine and each vaccine the FDA authorizes for COVID-19. These vaccines are going to save so many lives and help bring this pandemic to an end.

Thank you all for having me here today. And on behalf of a grateful country, thank you to everyone at the NIH for your work this year.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'd like to introduce Dr. Heike Bailin, who is the acting Chief of the NIH Occupational Medical Service, who will be administering the vaccine today to our participants. And she is assisted by Nurse Practitioner Judy Chen.

Our first health care worker to be vaccinated is Ebenezer Mienza, a respiratory therapist. He has been here for 23 years. Ebe, while we set up, we'd love to have you share with us why you decided to be vaccinated today.

So this will be one of two doses that everyone will be receiving --

HARLOW (voice over): We're going to keep monitoring this. It's a really exciting day at the National Institutes of Health. Elizabeth Cohen is here alongside me. I have this list of ten people who work there that they're going to vaccinate. The first is a 23-year-old employee of NIH, Ebenezer Mienza. You're just seeing them get ready.

Elizabeth, down here, a little bit on the list, number seven is HHS Secretary Alex Azar and then Dr. Fauci is eight. His boss, Dr. Collins is nine. But just can you speak to the importance of this happening on live television?

COHEN (voice over): Yes. I'll tell you, Poppy, this is an emotional -- this is an emotional moment after living through this, as we all have, you and I have had so many conversations, every morning, you and I have to talk about this terrible news of people dying, of people getting sick. I personally have had a very close relative who was in the ICU and we were told he wasn't going to make it. Sorry.

And to see this happening, to see people getting vaccinated brings such hope that hopefully no one else will have to get the call that my relatives and I got that day that he wasn't going to make it. Thank God he did make it. But now we hopefully won't have to worry about this. Hopefully, it's the beginning of the end.

HARLOW (voice over): You don't have to apologize, Elizabeth. I mean, you and Sanjay have been our rock through all of this. And I think the emotion you show is not only human, it's important for people to see. Because on the other side of this, Elizabeth, even when people are vaccinated, like is the trauma that everyone, you know, especially those of you guys on the frontlines has gone through in all of this. That doesn't go away with a shot. COHEN: It doesn't. I mean, when I speak to friends of mine who are doctors and nurses in these units who have had to handle this, especially at the beginning, I remember getting a text from a dear friend of mine who's a surgeon in Washington he said, Elizabeth, I'm having to fight for a surgical mask.

[10:20:09]

I mean, that kind of trauma does not go away. And he and so many others have fought so hard and worked so with really in the beginning not so much gratitude, now thankfully more.

But it really has been a long ride for so many people. And to see this vaccine coming out in less than a year. I mean, I remember talking to Dr. Fauci in January of this year, and I said, Tony, how long do you think this will take? And he said, 12 to 18 months, and he was right on.

HARLOW: Yes, totally. So, Elizabeth, I was struck by and I think it's an important message we just heard from Secretary Azar of the frontiers of science. Like the fact that these two mRNA vaccines are the first mRNA vaccines ever to be given an emergency use authorization by the FDA, and we can't overstate how this could change medicine and cure people going forward from things we never thought could be done before, right, or protect people, I should say.

COHEN: Right. That's right. I have to tell you in the beginning when this all started in January and I was speaking with vaccine experts, they did not think the mRNA vaccine was going to be the first. They were doubting that it would work but they did not think that it was going to be the first and that it would work so well. I mean, when that 95 percent number came out, I think everybody's jaw dropped. Very few people expected that it was going to be that high.

I will note, Moncef Slaoui, the head of Operation Warp Speed, he told me back in July he thought it would be that high, but, really, he was the only one. So, the fact that these mRNA vaccines have worked so well could be a game changer in the world of vaccines, in general. If this experience shows and continues to show that they work this well, it sort of calls into question maybe we should be doing other vaccines this way too.

HARLOW: Right. Okay, we're looking at the second employee here to get vaccinated as well. This Carlene Samhety (ph). As we do, Dr. Gold, your thoughts on this moment?

GOLD (voice over): Well, it is truly historic. And just to echo what we've been talking about, we rolled out the Pfizer product here in our medical center last week for our frontline health care workers. And as I talked to them and reflected after their experiences, they went home and their children and families cried that they felt that they were on a pathway that they could be together, that they could see their grandparents, that they could do the things that they really wanted to do with their families.

So it's a very, very emotional experience and it's an incredibly important time for not just the frontline health care workers but for our nation to take heed of what science can actually do when we really get focused.

HARLOW (voice over): I think, Dr. Gold, I'd be remiss not to mention that there is still vaccine hesitancy out there, and it's not just from folks who don't know and trust science. I mean, there are medical workers who are hesitant. We had a doctor on yesterday talking about some of his doctor and nurse friends who are hesitant. Can you speak to anyone in the medical community, because they're the leaders on this, right, that have any hesitancy?

GOLD (voice over): Well, you know, the reality of the situation is that this is an unprecedented speed to having a safe vaccine and it's a new technology. But the reality is that, as we heard earlier, that none of the scientific corners have been cut and that the validation statistics in large trials of over 30,000 people evenly divided have shown there's safety and efficacy of both of these Pfizer and Moderna vaccine products.

Like any new technique, any new medical cure or treatment or prevention, there are always people who are skeptical. There's a significant but vocal anti-vaxxer community that we continue to hear from. But we will build confidence. As more physicians and nurses and pharmacists roll up their sleeves as people who are trusted in the entertainment industry and the business leaders of our country roll up their sleeves, people are going to build confidence.

At the end of the day, what do most people do? You call up your health care professional and say, if you were me, what do you recommend? You know me the best, which product, when should I get vaccinated? And so as that advice continues spreads across the country, I think that's what's going to build confidence and we'll hopefully get to a level of herd immunity.

And I guess it's worth calling out that there are going to be bumps in the road. There are going to be stories of people that have had reactions, that have possibly had serious reactions. But when you're treating millions of millions of people who have all different types of existing medical conditions, we need to be able to expect that and deal with it with a relevance compared to what it is we're preventing and what it is in this case we're treating, which has been so tragic across our nation and around the world.

[10:25:04]

HARLOW (voice over): Well said. All right, stay with me Dr. Gold, Elizabeth Cohen, we're going to get a quick break.

You're watching Jeff Strich, one of their employees, get vaccinated. On the other side you'll see Dr. Fauci and Secretary Alex Azar get their vaccine shot. We'll be right back.

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[10:30:00]

HARLOW (voice over): All right. Let me take you back to the National Institutes of Health.