COVID-19: US HHS Secretary warns Americans to 'not let guard down' as vaccine arrives

On December 14, the US Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar asked the Americans not to let their guard down with respect to the COVID-19 as he reminded the population that they had to hit the 'herd immunity' from the vaccines. Azar joined Surgeon General Jerome Adam at George Washington University Hospital to witness the first shot of the Pfizer and BioNtech administered, as he called it inoculation of 5 healthcare workers a "momentous event”. "We're here today because of the extraordinary medical achievement our country has delivered this week through President Trump's 'Operation Warp Speed,'" HHS Secretary told Fox News, according to an ANI report.

“Today health care providers across America are going to work to administer vaccines to those most vulnerable and their coworkers,” he said. The US administered the very first Pfizer shot to the director of critical care nursing at Long Island Jewish Medical Center at 9:20 a.m. on December 14 during a news conference with Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo. Azar told Fox in a live-streamed address that the US was going to inoculate the most vulnerable population, healthcare, and frontline workers in a two-dose regime. 

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Warns people to be 'vigilant'

"At 95 percent efficacy, this vaccine is extraordinary at protecting you from the virus, getting vaccinated will help keep you, your family and your country safe,” the HHS secretary said. However, he warned people to be vigilant. “We need you to do that because we want everybody who is here now to be here next year for the holiday season. Now is not the time to let our guard down. This is not the end of our battle against COVID but today marks a critical milestone in the ultimate defeat of COVID-19,” Azar said.

Earlier, in a similar warning, the American business mogul and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates warned that the subsequent 4 to 6 months could possibly be the worst phase of a pandemic. In an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Gates spoke about the response to the coronavirus pandemic, saying that the US could have over 200,000 additional deaths if protocols such as the wearing of masks and hand hygiene weren’t adhered to. 

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(Image Credit: Twitter/@SecAzar]