Dr. Fauci says 'safe and effective' COVID-19 vaccine could arrive by early December as he cautions against ‘anti-science’ that could see Americans skip the treatment

It will be known before the end of the year whether there is a safe and effective coronavirus vaccine, the US's top infectious disease specialist has said.

Dr Anthony Fauci predicted such knowledge could arrive by the end of November or beginning of December, but warned there would not be enough doses to vaccinate everyone before 2021.

His comments come as the Trump administration touts herd immunity as a possible solution to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, which has infected 8.7million Americans and killed 224,906.

News reports have indicted that Scott Atlas, a neuroradiologist who's gained favor with the President, has promoted the theory in the White House.

But several health officials, including Fauci, have criticized the notion as 'total nonsense.'

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Dr. Anthony Fauci revealed that Americans could know whether a 'safe' and 'effective' vaccine is available by December

Appearing on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show, Dr Fauci was asked if US President Donald Trump's claims that a Covid-19 vaccine, while not a guarantee, will be coming by the end of the year were true.

'We will know whether a vaccine is safe and effective by the end of November, the beginning of December,' Fauci told Marr.

'The question is, once you have a safe and effective vaccine, or more than one, how can you get it to the people who need it as quickly as possible?

'The amount of doses that will be available in December will not certainly be enough to vaccinate everybody, you'll have to wait several months into 2021.'

He said healthcare workers will likely be prioritized first for any vaccine, as well as people considered at increased risk of complications.

'That could start by the end of this year, the beginning of January, February, March of next year,' Fauci added.

'When you talk about vaccinating a substantial proportion of the population, so that you can have a significant impact on the dynamics of the outbreak, that very likely will not be in to the second or third quarter.'

Dr Fauci expressed concern that 'anti-science' sentiment could have an effect on vaccine uptake.

'One of the things I'm concerned about in the United States is that part of the anti science translates maybe into anti vaccine,' saud Fuaci.

'It would really be a shame if we have a safe and effective vaccine, but a substantial proportion of the people do not want to take the vaccine because they don't trust authority.

'That would really be unfortunate if that's the case.'

Dr Fauci said a potential coronavirus vaccine, alongside public health measures, could help move the US towards 'some form of normality' next year.

'I think when we get a vaccine, and we start getting people vaccinated … over a period of several months into 2021, we will begin to approach some form of normality, depending upon how many people, what proportion of the people, take the vaccine,' said Fauci.

'That should be combined with some degree of public health measures. I don't think that a vaccine alone right off will get us back to normality.

'What I do foresee is that with a successful vaccine, and the continuation of some form of public health measures, as we go and progress through the months of 2021, getting towards the third and fourth quarter, we will see a considerable approach towards some form of normality.'

Before the segment ended, Marr questioned Fauci on the importance of politicians and public figures adhering to public health guidelines - something Trump has been repeatedly criticized for.

News reports have said that President Trump's lean towards herd immunity was prompted by neuroradiologist Scott Atlas

Fauci : 'People look at what their leaders say and do, and you can positively or negatively influence behavior'

'I think it's very important because we have a situation which is understandable. People look at what their leaders say and do, and you can positively or negatively influence behavior,' he said.

Last week, Michael Osterholm, a renowned infectious disease expert, theorized the same problems over anti-science and leadership while speaking on NBC's Meet the Press.

He explained that Americans don't have a 'lead' or 'consolidated' voice to guide them through the pandemic at the moment.

'People don't know what to believe, and that's one of our huge challenges going forward that we've got to get a message to the public that reflects the science and reflects reality,' said Osterholm.

'We need somebody to start to articulate, "What is our long-term plan? How are we going to get there? Why are we asking people to sacrifice distancing? Why are we telling people if you really love your family, you won’t go home for Thanksgiving or Christmas and end up infecting mom or dad or grandpa and grandma."

'We don’t have that storytelling going on right now, and that’s every bit as important as the science itself.'

Although the White House emerged as a solid front when it enacted the coronavirus task force in January, the facade slowly waned as Trump ignored health experts' guidelines and dissenting voices entered civil discourse.

Trump and Fauci publicly clashed over various issues.

Pictured: Medical personnel prepare to administer a COVID-19 swab at a drive-through testing site in Lawrence, New York

Trump's more laissez faire approach to eradicating the pandemic clashed with Fauci, who repeatedly called for Americans to adhere to social distancing and emphasized the importance of face masks.

The pair's most recent skirmish came over herd immunity, which Fauci blasted as 'scientifically and ethically problematic.'

Fauci, in an interview on 60 Minutes, said: 'If you just let things rip and let the infection go - no masks, crowds - that quite frankly is ridiculous.

'What that will do is there will be so many people in the community that you can't shelter, that you can't protect, who are going to get sick and get serious consequences.

'If you talk to anybody who has any experience in epidemiology and infectious diseases they'll tell you it's risky and you'll wind up with many more infections of vulnerable people, which will lead to hospitalizations and deaths.

'I think we've got to look that square in the eye and say it's nonsense.'

By Emily Goodin, Senior Political Reporter For DailyMail.com and Geoff Earle, Deputy U.S. Political Editor for DailyMail.com

President Donald Trump clashed with Democratic nominee Joe Biden clashed over the coronavirus response in the final presidential debate and insisted the country must be opened up, saying: 'We can't all lock ourselves in the basement like Joe does'.

The rivals started off their final presidential debate on Thursday without interrupting each other, in a head-to-head match with a dramatically different tone from their first debate.

The microphones of each candidate were muted for the first two minutes of their response and that moment of discipline, put in place by the Commission on Presidential Debates after Trump repeatedly interrupted Biden in their first meeting, carried through the first segment of the debate.

But the two men disagreed with one another on the coronavirus – the topic of the first segment – with Biden repeatedly criticizing Trump's handling of the pandemic that has killed more than 200,000 Americans.

'Anyone who is responsible for that many deaths should not remain president of the United States of America,' Biden said.

He also said refused to rule out more lockdowns in areas where the virus is spreading, saying: 'We need standards.

'If you have a reproduction rate in a community that's above a certain level, everyone says "slow up". More social distancing, do not open bars, do not open gymnasiums, until you get it under control'.

The night started with the topic of COVID-19 and both Trump and Biden took coronavirus tests Thursday and tested negative before meeting onstage

President Trump cited his own experience with the virus and said the country was turning a corner. 'It will go away and as I say, we are rounding the turn, we are rounding the corner, it's going away,' he said.

The two men were careful to make their points in a presidential way, letting each other talk and requesting time to respond from moderator Kristen Welker.

But they did get a few personal hits in, with the president saying 'We can't lock up in a basement like Joe does.'

'But he has this thing about living in a basement,' Trump claimed, pointing to Biden's decision to drastically cut back appearances and travel, although both men have campaigned around the country in recent weeks.

Biden, meanwhile, criticized the president's frequent golfing trips, and brought up a relief bill the House passed in March that hasn't been enacted.

He said: 'Instead of in a sand trap in his golf course he should have been negotiating.'

The slightly more respectful back-and-forth between the candidates was markedly different from their first meeting in Cleveland, which resembled a boxing match as both talked over each other.

In the final debate, Biden argued the situation with COVID was going to get worse.

'We are about to go into a dark winter. A dark winter. And he has no clear plan and there is no prospect that there's going to be a vaccine available for a majority the American people before the middle of next year,' he said.

The president, who has pushed for the country to reopen and return to normal, said the country has learned more about the disease and is ready to move forward.

'We will not have a dark winter at all,' the president said. 'We are opening up the country, we've learned and our understanding the disease, which we didn't at the beginning.'

The president, who has pushed for the country to reopen and return to normal, said the country has learned more about the disease and is ready to move forward.

This debate is different from the last, as the candidates' microphones are muted and therefore can't interrupt each other

'Anyone who is responsible for that many deaths should not remain president of the United States of America,' Biden said of Trump's handling of the pandemic

The two men clashed on their visions for reopening the country.

'He did virtually nothing,' Biden said of Trump's response to the pandemic.

Biden took on Trump's repeated statements not to 'worry.'

'There's not another scientist in the world who thinks it's going to be over soon,' Biden said.

'It's his ineptitude that caused the country to have to shut down in large part,' he added.

'All he does is talk about shutdowns,' Trump said, as the most substantive contrast got going.

'Democrats, they shut down so tight and they're dying. And he supports all these people,' Trump said.

'All he talks about are shutdowns. We're not going to shut down and we have to open our schools,' Trump said.

Trump pointed to his former hometown of New York. 'It's a ghost town,' he said, with the two men separated by plexiglass, a precaution that began following his coronavirus infection.

'You talk about plexiglass? These are restaurant that are dying,' Trump said. 'It's not the answer. You're going to sit there in a cubicle wrapped around in plastic.'

Biden took on Trump's repeated statements not to 'worry' about the pandemic. 'There's not another scientist in the world who thinks it's going to be over soon,' Biden said

TRUMP AND BIDEN'S MOST MEMORABLE LINES FROM THE FINAL PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE

DONALD TRUMP

Trump boasts that he is 'immune' to COVID-19.

'I can tell you from personal experience that I was in the hospital. I had it. And I got better. And I will tell you that I had something that they gave me, a therapeutic, I guess they would call it, some people could say it was a cure.

'But I was in for a short period of time and I got better very fast or I wouldn't be here tonight.

'And now they say I'm immune. Whether it's four months or a lifetime, nobody has been able to say that, but I'm immune.'

Trump emphatically claims he is the 'least racist person in the room' despite calling Black Lives Matter a 'symbol of hate'.

'I have criminal justice reform done, and prison reform, and opportunities, I took care of Black colleges and universities. I don't know what to say. They could say anything.

It makes me sad. I am the least racist person. I can't even see the audience, because it is so dark, but I don't care who's in the audience, I'm the least race in person in this room.

Trump tells Biden he only ran for president because he and Obama failed.

'Joe, I ran because of you. I ran because of Barack Obama. Because you did a poor job. If I thought you did a good job, I would have never run. '

Trump accuses Biden of taking money from China and Ukraine.

'I don't make money from China, you do. I don't make money from Ukraine, you do.'

Trump says Americans can't lock themselves 'in a basement like Joe' while speaking out against another lockdown.

'We cannot lock ourselves up in a basement like Joe does. He has the ability to lock himself up. I don't know, he's obviously made a lot of money someplace, but he has this thing about living in a basement. People can't do that.'

JOE BIDEN

Biden sarcastically calls Trump 'Abraham Lincoln' after the president claimed he was the 'least racist person in the room'.

'Abraham Lincoln here is one of the most racist presidents we've had in modern history. He pours fuel on every single racist fire. This guy has a dog whistle as big as a foghorn'.

Biden calls Trump 'very confused' over his plans to ax Obamacare.

'He's a very confused guy. He thinks he's running against someone else. He's running against Joe Biden. I beat all those other people because I disagreed with them.'

Biden slams Trump's cozy relationship with 'thug' Kim Jong Un.

'He's legitimized North Korea. he's talked about his good buddy - who's a thug, a thug - and he talks about how we're better off, and they have much more capable missiles able to reach US territory, much more easily than ever before.'

Biden dismisses Trump's claim that the coronavirus 'is going away'.

'He says we're learning to live with it. People are learning to die with it.'

'If you hear nothing else I say tonight, hear this … anyone that's responsible for that many deaths should not remain president of the United States of America.'

Biden announces he will 'transition from the oil industry' in favor of renewable energy.

'I would transition from the oil industry, yes … because the oil industry pollutes significantly. It has to be replaced by renewable energy over time. '