Hotez has warned that contrary to popular belief, more young adults than expected would be hospitalized due to the outbreak of COVID-19: "The message is that we've been trying to appeal to younger adults and have them shelter away and do the social distancing and explaining why they're at risk for transmitting the virus to vulnerable populations." In 2020 he warned against optimistic COVID-19 vaccine timelines, arguing that rushing could cause problems, "potentially mak[ing] individuals worse and threaten[ing] vaccine development in the U.S.". On August 7, 2020, he said in a television interview that the US can expect to be affected by COVID-19 for "years and years" even after Americans are vaccinated. In that interview, he also blamed the federal government for not taking action to contain the spread of the virus.