Study: Desk Arrangement, Glass Shields Help Cut Classroom Virus Spread; NIH Director Says "Very Unlikely" Vaccine Ready Before Late November
DR. ROSHINI RAJ, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF MEDICINE, NYU LANGONE HEALTH & CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, "HEALTH" MAGAZINE: But remember, you know, this was a very sort of rarified situation where the desks were very far apart. As you said, almost eight feet apart, so more than six feet we generally talk about. And there were only nine students in the classroom when they did the simulation. How practical this is for most schools around the country? That is not clear. But there are some interesting and important learnings from it. Ventilation was very important. It showed it can make a difference in how many virus particles will stay in the classroom as opposed to exiting through the windows. Windows absolutely should be open whenever possible. But they also stress that hand washing is going to be very important still with all of the measures because you do still have significant amount of virus staying in the classroom, even with the best measures. The glass shields were also found to be effective. That was another point that I think schools will take into account.</s>BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Yes. It is so hard to hear these recommendations when they're talking about windows. A lot of classrooms don't have windows that open. That isn't even an option for them. I want to talk vaccines with you because Dr. Francis Collins, the NIH director, firmed up the vaccine timeline on NPR today. Let's listen.</s>DR. FRANCIS COLLINS, NIH DIRECTOR (voice-over): Many uncertainties here. But I am guardedly optimistic that we will have, by the end of the year, one or more of these that will pass this very high standard of safety and efficacy.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Probably not in the next couple of weeks, though, we would assume, right?</s>COLLINS: I would think it is very unlikely given the timetables and standards that have to be followed that you will hear about emergency use authorization before late November at the earliest.</s>KEILAR: Does this make you feel more confident about the safety of the vaccine when it's ready? And if approval happened before then, is that something you might be skeptical about?</s>RAJ: Well, it gives me confidence that the top leaders and scientists in the country are being cautious and saying we're going to wait as long as it takes until we have a safe and effective vaccine. If they actually, by a lot of good luck, are able to make that declaration earlier than the end of November, I would trust them and have confidence in what they're saying. But the truth is it is very unlikely, as he just said, because there has to be so much data that needs to be collated. And really all the side effects potentially need to be explained or understood. It will take some time. If he's saying end of November is the soonest, that's, I think, a realistic, even optimistic, perhaps, point of view. If we could get it by end of the year, we should consider ourselves lucky.</s>KEILAR: Yes. Dr. Raj, it's great to see you. Thank you.</s>RAJ: Thank you.</s>KEILAR: Good news for Americans who are purchasing their insurance on Obamacare exchanges, even as the president tries to kill the law without a replacement for it. And a Republican lawmaker in South Dakota is battling COVID and he says it is the most devastating thing he has been through. He is going to join us live. And another FOX host pedals a new baseless smear against Joe Biden. We'll roll the tape.