Fauci: Another Covid Surge ‘Unlikely’

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious diseases expert, said he believed the United States will not see coronavirus surges this coming fall and winter, unlike in 2020.

The mass vaccine campaign, which has vaccinated  150 million Americans, has been a “game changer,” he said in a media interview, according to The Hill.

“If we get, which we will, to the goals that the president has established, namely if we get 70 percent of the people vaccinated by the Fourth of July, namely one single dose, and even more thereafter, you may see blips,” Facui said. “But if we handle them well, it is unlikely that you’ll see the kind of surge that we saw in the late fall and the early winter. That’s the reason why vaccinations are so important. That’s the wild card that we have now that we didn’t have last fall or last winter,” he added.

More than 150 million Americans have received at least one coronavirus shot, but only 34% of the population has been fully populated so far, less than half of President Biden’s 70% goal.

Facui added he could see mask wearing become a habit during flu season in the coming years. Though the CDC says that vaccinated people do not need to wear masks outdoors or indoors with other vaccinated people, but many people have continued wearing them as precautionary measures.

“I think people have gotten used to the fact that wearing masks clearly, if you look at the data, diminishes respiratory diseases. We’ve had practically a nonexistent flu season this year merely because people were doing the kinds of public health things that were directed predominantly against COVID-19,” said Fauci.

“It is conceivable that, as we go on a year or two or more from now, that during certain seasonal periods when you have respiratory-borne viruses like the flu, people might actually elect to wear masks to diminish the likelihood that you’ll spread these respiratory-borne diseases,” he concluded.

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smarcus@hamodia.com