Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, says that without a global response to the pandemic, coronavirus variants will always be a threat.
"When you have a global pandemic, you have to have a global response," Dr. Fauci, the White House’s chief medical advisor and head of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told KCBS Radio's "The State of California" on Thursday.
He said that if low and middle-income countries don’t have access to COVID-19 vaccines or the capability to make their own, there will always be a chance that another variant will emerge in those places.
The universality of global travel will ensure one of those variants is brought to a country that thought it was protected and then it will be vulnerable again, Dr. Fauci said.
He said the U.S. is doing it’s part, but still needs to watch and see what it can do for the global effort in the future. The Biden administration pledged in February to donate $4 billion to COVAX, an initiative led by the World Health Organization and Gavi to ensure global, equitable access to vaccines.
"We’re going to be able to do more, and we will do more," he added.
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