“You may be done with COVID, but COVID is not done with the United States, nor is COVID done with the world,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical advisor to President Joe Biden, told MSNBC Tuesday.
Fauci explained that, while many people are ready to move on after nearly two years living through a global pandemic that has claimed nearly 6 million lives as of this month, that goal will take work.
We have to “continue doing the right things,” such as getting vaccinated against and boosted against COVID-19, he told host Chris Hayes.
“We’re going in the right direction,” with cases and hospitalizations on a steep decline, said Fauci. “But, we’re not out of the woods yet.”
Cases and hospitalizations have gone down this month after a surge fueled by the omicron variant, according to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. Some states have aleady started dropping masking mandates.
However, Hayes mentioned that 64 percent of Americans were fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and only 28 percent of the population is boosted.
“The boosters really work in protecting you from severe disease,” said Fauci, who encouraged everyone to get a booster shot. He said data proves the shots are effective.
According to CDC guidelines, people who received the two dose Pfizer or Moderna mRNA vaccines can get a booster dose five months after the last shot of their initial series and people who received the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine should get a booster shot of an mRNA vaccine two moths after their shot. As of this week, the CDC still recommends that everyone, even vaccinated people, wear masks when in indoor places in areas of substantial or high COVID-19 transmission, though guidelines are expected to be updated soon.
While COVID-19 spreads easily, Fauci said preventing severe infection and developing immunity is key to moving out of the pandemic.
“Done with COVID means you want to get back to normality to the extent that you can. But the fact is, you’ll get back to normality when you have a certain percentage of people who have immunity.”
As we approach the two-year anniversary of the pandemic next month, Fauci said we should “do better,” and continue to drive our vaccination and booster numbers up.
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