Peter Hotez on Friday predicted the coronavirus will continue to plague the United States “for years and years, even after vaccines are out and we get people vaccinated.”.

The virus has now killed more than 160,000 people nationwide.

Hotez, who has long rejected and contested the anti-vaccine movement, noted how Russian intelligence officers have reportedly been part of a disinformation campaign to sow doubt about vaccines in development for the virus.

The White House’s failure to properly advocate for face masks, support contact tracing and introduce more lockdowns to quell outbreaks “is why we have the world’s worst COVID-19 epidemic and it’s still growing,” he said.

This will plague the country for years and years, even after vaccines are out and we get people vaccinated.”.