As the nation’s leading disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci announced on Tuesday that the U.S. could effectively manage the coronavirus pandemic if more Americans got vaccinated by spring 2022, one medical expert is now saying that 85% to 90% of the population would have to get inoculated to do it.

Dr. Peter Hotez, co-director of the Center for Vaccine Development at Texas Children’s Hospital, told CNBC’s “The News With Shepard Smith” that with the spread of the Delta variant the percentage of Americans that need to be vaccinated in order to reach herd immunity has grown.

Fauci told CNN back in February that 70% to 85% of the U.S. population needed to be fully vaccinated in order to get back to a pre-pandemic normal.

Hotez explained on “The News With Shepard Smith,” “That’s not 85%, 90% of the adults, that’s 85-90% of the country which means all of the adults and all of the adolescents, if we’re really going to get past this, and this is why he’s giving these extended time frames before we get out of COVID-19.”

A vaccine for children under the age of 12 is not available to date, but Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy told CNN that one is expected to receive authorization by the end of the year.

The Delta variant has spiked the number of cases of COVID across the country, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention saying in early August that the strain was responsible for 93% of all new cases of the virus in the U.S.

According to the CDC, 51.6% of the U.S. population has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, with 202 million Americans receiving at least one dose of the shot.

Officials are hopeful that with the latest approval of the Pfizer COVID vaccine that more Americans will line up for the shot in another push to get inoculated. The Biden Administration has also put more pressure on corporate America to mandate the vaccine for employees as the government has required vaccination for government workers and military personnel.

Many job openings have been in positions related to Covid-19 vaccine drives
A COVID-19 vaccination is pictured. AFP / Joseph Prezioso
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