Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN on Sunday that Americans may need to wear masks until next year and that he cannot predict when things in the United States will return to normal.
“You and the president have suggested that we will approach normal by the end of the year. What does normal mean? ”CNN’s Dana Bash asked. “Do you think Americans will still wear masks, for example, in 2022?”
“You know, I think it’s possible that this is the case,” said Fauci. “And again, it really depends on what you mean by normal … because if normal means exactly what things were like before we happened to me, I mean, I can’t predict that.”
“But I mean, obviously, I think we will have a significant degree of normalcy, in addition to the terrible burden that we all went through last year, which as we enter autumn and winter, end of the year, I fully agree with the president, that we will be approaching a certain degree of normality, it may or may not be exactly as it was in November 2019 ”, he added. “But it will be much, much better than what we are doing now.”
When asked why he thought Americans would need to wear masks next year, Fauci said it depended on the level of the virus in the community.
“And this is very important, because it goes back to something, again, that you said, if you see the level dropping very, very low, I want it to continue falling to a baseline that is so low, that there is virtually no threat , or not no, it will never be zero, but a minimal threat, that you will be exposed to someone who is infected, “he said.” So if you agreed, vaccinate most people in the country with the level of virus in the community, very, very low, so I think you’ll be able to say, you know, for the most part, we don’t necessarily need to wear masks ”.
WATCH:
CNN: A “return to normal” is unlikely to happen until 2022?
Fauci: “This is probably the case. It depends on what you mean by normal.” pic.twitter.com/sG9xBeTyu5
– Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) February 21, 2021
TRANSCRIPT:
DANA BASH, CNN HOST: You and the president have suggested that we will approach normal by the end of the year. What does normal mean? Do you think Americans will still wear masks, for example, in 2022?
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR OF NIAID: You know, I think it’s possible that this is the case. And again, it really depends on what you mean by normal.
BANA: Right, that’s why I want you to define it.
FAUCI: If normality is exactly like that … No, Dana, it’s important because if normality means exactly how things were before we happened, I mean, I can’t predict that. But I want to say, obviously, I think we will have a significant degree of normality, in addition to the terrible burden that we all went through last year, which as we enter autumn and winter, end of year, I fully agree with the president, that we will be approaching of a certain degree of normality, it may or may not be exactly as it was in November 2019. But it will be much, much better than what we are doing now.
BASH: Why do you think Americans will have to wear masks by 2022?
FAUCI: You know, because it depends on the level of, on, the dynamics of the virus that is in the community. And this is very important, because it refers to something, again, that you said, if you see the level dropping very, very low, I want it to continue falling to a baseline that is so low, that there is practically no threat, or no no, it will never be zero, but a minimal threat, that you will be exposed to someone who is infected. So, if you agreed, vaccinating most people in the country with the level of viruses in the community, very, very low, then I believe you will be able to say, you know, for the most part, we don’t necessarily need to wear masks. But if we have a virus level that is at that level, which was months and months ago, like 20,000 a day, it is much better than it has been. But this is still a very high level of viruses in the community. I want to see it lessen. When it goes down. And the overwhelming majority of people in the population are vaccinated, so I would be comfortable saying, you know, we need to remove the masks. We don’t need masks.
BASH: Wow. So, is your timeline eliminating us? A year, maybe two years, maybe even more?
FAUCI: No, I know, I can’t say that, Dana, and I don’t want to, I don’t want it to be said like that, because then it will be a catchphrase that is not true. OK. I’m saying that we don’t know. We do not know.
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