Dr. Fauci Just Said When We'd Get Back to Normal
We may never get back to what life was like before the coronavirus, but you might be wondering: When might we approach some degree of normality? When might we go shopping again without worrying the check-out line isn't evenly spaced? Or back to the theater to enjoy a Broadway show? Dr. Anthony Fauci, the chief medical advisor to the President and the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has been monitoring vaccinations and has an idea about when we might return to normal. Read on for his latest prediction—and to ensure your health and the health of others, don't miss these Sure Signs You've Already Had Coronavirus.
Dr. Fauci Says We Could Reach Normality By Fall—If Enough People Get Vaccinated
"The goal we have, of a hundred million vaccines in the first hundred million days is, is a laudable goal," Fauci told Alex Witt on MSNBC. "I believe we'll be able to do that, but as we get further on into the subsequent months, and we get a lot more vaccines available, then you're going to see a much broader approach using these community vaccine centers and pharmacies, et cetera. So I believe we can do it."
In order to reach herd immunity, we need 70% to 85% of Americans vaccinated, he says. Fauci thinks we can get there but does have one big concern. "One of the things that's of concern to me, and the reason why we're putting a amount of effort into it is to get over the vaccine hesitancy that we see in some segments of the population, particularly in understandably minority populations who have some hesitancy or skepticism based on some historical mistreatments," he said. "So we've really tried the best as we can. And you explain that you understand the hesitancy they may have, but you go over the things that you need explanation of, like, why did we go so quickly? Was that a compromise of safety? Or was it just as it really was a reflection of extraordinary scientific advances? So we need the vaccine, we need to get it implemented, but we need to overcome the hesitancy that's associated with some segments of the population."
Witt asked if we do reach the goal of vaccinating 70 to 85% of Americans, would that mean a return entirely to pre-pandemic life?
"I believe that if we do get that 70 to 85% of the population vaccinated, we would reach a degree of herd immunity that would get us to approach strongly a degree of normality," he said. "I don't think we're going to be absolutely where we were prior to this pandemic, but we could be doing many things that we're really hesitant to do right now. I would say sometime by the fall. But again, that's contingent on a lot of things, falling into place, including getting the people to accept the vaccine and be vaccinated. But I think we can approach a degree of normality as we get into the fall of 2021."
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How to Get Through This Pandemic Unharmed
Follow Fauci's fundamentals and help end this surge, no matter where you live—wear a face mask, social distance, avoid large crowds, don't go indoors with people you're not sheltering with (especially in bars), practice good hand hygiene, get vaccinated when it becomes available to you, and to protect your life and the lives of others, don't visit any of these 35 Places You're Most Likely to Catch COVID.
