Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Sunday that he believes the worst is yet to come in the COVID-19 pandemic – and Americans must prepare for the post-holiday “surge”.
“We can very well see a post-seasonal wave – in the sense of Christmas, New Year – or, as I described, one wave after another,” Fauci told CNN anchor Dana Bash in “State of the Union.”
Asked if he predicts that “the worst is yet to come”, Fauci said, “yes”.
“If you look at the slope, the slope of the cases that we experience when we arrive in late autumn and early winter, is really worrying,” said the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, he said.
Fauci, however, said that the COVID-19 vaccine is still on track to reach healthy Americans by April – despite the initial launch falling behind the 20 million dose target for December.
Fauci said he believes the United States will “catch up” in the coming months, although only about 1.9 million doses of the vaccines have been administered so far.
“Of course, when you compare 2 million to 20 million, it is a big difference,” said Fauci.
“Whenever you launch a major program that is a comprehensive vaccine program with a brand new vaccine like this, at the beginning it always starts slowly and then it starts to gain momentum.”
Fauci said he believes the launch will continue to “gain more and more momentum” in the spring.
“I believe that we will achieve the projection that, when we get to April, at the end of April, you will have taken people of high priority and already accounted for and then anyone can be vaccinated,” said Fauci.