Dr. Anthony Fauci is calling for economic “forward-thinking” while combating the coronavirus pandemic.
Asked if he believes the U.S. is headed toward another national lockdown amid rising COVID-19 cases across the country, Fauci responded during Thursday’s “Good Morning America” interview, “I don’t know, we’d like to stay away from that, Robin, because there is no appetite for locking down the American public.”
Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, added that he believes “we can do it without a lockdown.”
“The best opposite strategy to locking down is to intensify the public health measures short of locking down,” Fauci said.
Asked what his advice is for those who are suffering “COVID fatigue,” the nation’s top infectious disease expert said, “Help is really on the way. If you think of it metaphorically, the cavalry is coming here. Vaccines are going to have a major positive impact.”
See his comments below:
“The best opposite strategy to locking down is to intensify the public health measures short of locking down.”
— Good Morning America (@GMA) November 12, 2020
Dr. Fauci speaks on the COVID crisis and the possibility of a second lockdown as U.S. cases soar to new records. https://t.co/U6hIuaJiY1 pic.twitter.com/FmZpA2mpWj
Fauci also touched on the potential of a coronavirus vaccine. His remarks come as Pfizer announced earlier this week that its coronavirus vaccine trial has shown positive efficacy “in preventing COVID-19 in participants without evidence of prior SARS-CoV-2 infection in the first interim efficacy analysis.”
He said on a coronavirus vaccine, “We hope that by the time you get into the second quarter, end of April, early May, June, somewhere around that time, the ordinary citizen should be able to get it.”
Fauci has said that he would take Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine if the Food and Drug Administration approves it. If it is, he also said he would recommend his family take it as well.
“We hope that by the time you get into the second quarter, end of April, early May, June, somewhere around that time, the ordinary citizen should be able to get it.”
— Good Morning America (@GMA) November 12, 2020
Dr. Fauci speaks to @RobinRoberts about the latest on the coronavirus vaccine. https://t.co/U6hIuaJiY1 pic.twitter.com/UJ4eiSHX60
Fauci also spoke about vaccines during an event by Chatham House on Thursday, where he said, “Certainly it’s not going to be pandemic for a lot longer because I believe the vaccines are going to turn that around,” according to The Hill.
He added, “Putting it to rest doesn’t mean eradicating it. I doubt we’re going to eradicate this, I think we need to plan that this is something we may need to maintain control over chronically, it may be something that becomes endemic that we have to just be careful about.”
On Wednesday, the U.S. saw a record all-time high of 142,279 new COVID-19 cases reported. This was the second day in a row it was at an all-time high. Additionally, the number of people hospitalized due to the virus rose to a record high amid the coronavirus pandemic.
