Washington - Doctor Anthoni Fauci is set to receive his dose of the coronavirus vaccine on Tuesday, according to the National Institute of Health.

The 79-year-old director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases told CNBC on Friday, "I'm ready to go. I'm going to get vaccinated as soon as I can. I hope that it's going to be within the next few days to the early part of next week."

Fauci said he was waiting for the National Institutes of Health to get their allocation of the vaccine before he got it. He wants to get his shot publicly to encourage Americans to get the vaccine.

According to an AP-NORC poll, only half of Americans want to get the vaccine. The survey shows a quarter of adults in the U.S. aren't sure if they want to get vaccinated and about another quarter say they won't get the vaccine at all.

Health experts say at least 70 percent of the population needs to be vaccinated to reach herd immunity. This is the point where enough people are protected against the virus that its spread can be controlled.