//Fauci: 85 percent of the US needs to get the Covid-19 vaccine for “true herd immunity”

Fauci: 85 percent of the US needs to get the Covid-19 vaccine for “true herd immunity”

Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, at a congressional hearing in July. | Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

With vaccine acceptance rebounding among Americans, Fauci’s goal does not appear so unrealistic.

As the Covid-19 vaccination campaign gets underway, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease scientist, told Vox’s Sean Rameswaram on Tuesday that he is hoping to get as much as 85 percent of Americans vaccinated against the virus.

“If you really want true herd immunity, where you get a blanket of protection over the country … you want about 75 to 85 percent of the country to get vaccinated,” Fauci, the longtime head of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in a live-recorded interview with Rameswaram, the host of Today, Explained. “I would say even closer to 85 percent.”

How many people need