Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Monday that a drop in Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations in most parts of the country probably cannot be attributed to vaccines, which means that people should continue to be as cautious as possible.
“I don’t think the dynamic is what we are seeing is significantly influenced, yet – it will be soon – but still by vaccine,” said Fauci on NBC’s “TODAY” program.
The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and chief medical adviser to the president said the fall was more likely due to a natural plateau of cases after a peak after the holiday season.
“We don’t want to be complacent and think … ‘oh, things are going in the right direction, we can back off a little because we have a variant of the UK circulating in the country that is in more than 20 states now,” said Fauci, pointing out that the variant is more easily passed from person to person.
Fauci also said that although it is not official, preliminary data show that the UK variant is more deadly. “I am quite convinced that there is a degree of increase in the severity of the actual infection,” he said.
Vaccines, however, must be effective against the UK strain and a new South African strain. But scientists are prepared and “already taking steps” to update the vaccine while “things continue to evolve,” said Fauci.
The recently announced travel ban that prevents non-American citizens from entering if they have recently been to South Africa, which President Joe Biden plans to sign on Monday, is “very prudent,” said Fauci. He added that anyone coming to the country will have to do a Covid-19 test before boarding a plane to the United States and a person in quarantine when they arrive.
When asked about the “double mask” method, Fauci encouraged him. “You put on another layer, it makes sense that it’s more effective,” he said.
