Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN’s Dana Bash on State of the Union that Americans may have to continue wearing masks in 2022.
Fauci told CNN that we will be approaching “a degree of normality,” but Americans may still need to wear masks until daily cases drop and the “overwhelming majority” of Americans are vaccinated.
Not until the virus count goes “way down” and the “overwhelming majority” of people are vaccinated will Fauci “feel comfortable” saying Americans do not need to wear masks.
President Joe Biden said he believes the country will approach “normalcy” by the end of 2021. But he wasn’t ready to make any promises.
“I can’t make that commitment to you. There are other strains of the virus. We don’t know what could happen in terms of production rates,” he said. “But we’re doing everything the science has indicated we should do, and people are stepping up to get everything done that has to be done.”
Fauci told CNN COVID has been “nothing like we’ve ever been through in the last 102 years.”
“It really is a terrible situation that we’ve been through and that we’re still going through, and that’s the reason why we keep insisting to continue with the public health measures because we don’t want this to get much worse than it already is,” Fauci said.