Pouch: "Majority to Return to Normal Life by Next Spring After Vaccination"

Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
[Photo by AP News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), predicted that the United States will return to normal life around next spring.

In an interview with CNN on the 23rd (local time), Fauci said, "If the majority of the population completes vaccination and gets through this fall and winter well, we should be able to control COVID-19 by around next spring."

He explained that returning to normal life?such as going to work and school, traveling, and dining out as before COVID-19?will take more than half a year, assuming more people get vaccinated.

Regarding his earlier statement in an NPR interview on the same day that the control of COVID-19 would be possible by next fall, Fauci corrected himself, calling it a "simple slip of the tongue," and revised the timeline to next spring.

He said, "Even health experts do not yet know how much of the population needs to be vaccinated to reach the level of immunity necessary to safely return to places like restaurants or movie theaters," adding, "The best course of action going forward is to vaccinate as many people as possible."

CNN pointed out that Fauci's proposed "normalization in spring 2022" politically constrains U.S. President Joe Biden. President Biden had declared July 4, this year’s Independence Day, as the day of independence from COVID-19.

CNN stated, "It seems important to clearly define the meaning of 'control' mentioned by Fauci," adding, "If more people get vaccinated, it may be possible to separate confirmed cases from hospitalizations. That is probably what 'control' means."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.