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White House Chief Medical Adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci said that the United States is possibly approaching the end of the “full blown” phase of the COVID pandemic.
According to the Financial Times, Fauci is optimistic that certain pandemic-related protocols including mask mandates could be nearing an end “soon”. He said:
“As we get out of the full-blown pandemic phase, which we are certainly heading out of, these decisions will increasingly be made on a local level rather than centrally decided or mandated,”
He continued by saying:
“There will also be more people making their own decisions on how they want to deal with the virus.”
It is important to mention that Fauci did not give any specific timeline to ending certain restrictions, but he did mention that it would be possible during 2022.
It seems though that some are not as optimistic as Fauci when it comes to lifting certain restrictions, during a White House briefing, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky urged Americans to not let their guards down when it comes to COVID. She said:
“Our hospitalizations are still high, our death rates are still high, so as we…are encouraged by the current trends, we are not there yet,”
Walensky continued by saying,
“At this time we continue to recommend masking in areas of high and substantial transmission, that’s much of the country right now in public, indoor settings,”
The good news is that around the globe, COVID cases are dropping.
Fauci did mention in his interview with the Financial Times that COVID will not just disappear, but it will hopefully continue to diminish. This is what he said:
“But I hope we are looking at a time when we have enough people vaccinated and enough people with protection from previous infection that the COVID restrictions will soon be a thing of the past,”
He also mentioned that not every American will need to get boosted in the future. Fauci said:
“It will depend on who you are,” … “But if you are a normal, healthy 30-year-old person with no underlying conditions, you might need a booster only every four or five years.”
Only time will tell as to what happens in the near future. We are optimistic though.
Click here to read Fauci's full interview with the Financial Times.