White House health adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci has expressed confidence in President Joe Biden’s Covid-19 vaccination plan, but says he can give no timeline for a return to normal.
“There are two issues: getting enough doses, which we will have with the new contracts with the pharmaceutical companies. But once you get those doses, to get it into people’s arms,” Fauci told CNN on Sunday when discussing Covid-19 vaccine distribution plans.
Fauci expressed support for Biden’s wish that the US would be able to mark “independence” from the pandemic by July 4 and gather without masks or social distancing for traditional celebrations. This would follow everyone in the US being eligible for a vaccine by May, according to the president.
“We believe strongly that if we do all these things, we will reach a certain degree of normality by [the Fourth of July],” Fauci said.
Asked whether health guidelines like social distancing will still be in place, Fauci did not specifically confirm, but said pandemic guidelines will be “much more liberal than they are right now” come the summer.
How much more liberal remains unclear as in a separate interview with NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, Fauci was much more cautious about providing any timelines for a return to ‘normal’.
Asked by anchor Chuck Todd when a mass event like an “indoor wedding” can occur again without breaking health guidelines, Fauci said, “I can’t give you that exact date,” noting it could be within a “reasonable period of time,” but it depends on the “infection rate” in specific communities and whether the US can avoid another surge.
Fauci on if Americans might be able to finally schedule a wedding this year: “That’s a good question … I can’t give you that exact date" pic.twitter.com/hxt2vgRWzM
