The primary takeaway from the interview appears to be Fauci’s belief that COVID-19 is here to stay. “There is no way we are going to eradicate this virus,” the top medical adviser to the US president said.
While Fauci wasn’t optimistic that COVID-19 will soon be a thing of the past, he did suggest that the restrictions it has caused could be.
“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,” Fauci said.
With the reality that COVID-19 could soon become endemic through the US health care system’s improved ability to combat the virus, Fauci believes that Washington can soon begin to take a lesser role in handling the pandemic.
Fauci said, "As we get out of the full-blown pandemic phase of COVID-19, which we are certainly heading out of, these decisions will increasingly be made on a local level rather than centrally decided or mandated."
He also suggested that individuals will have the ability to choose how they deal with the new reality, saying, "There will also be more people making their own decisions on how they want to deal with the virus."
Beginning in the first week of February, data shows that the coronavirus pandemic has quickly abated in the United States, while also slowing globally. According to the World Health Organization, the US saw a 50% decline in case numbers while there was a 17% decline globally.
The vaccination rate in the United States has continued to rise after an initial surge in vaccinations in the first months of its availability. Approximately 76% of Americans have received at least one vaccination shot and 27% have gotten a booster.
A US Census Bureau poll from late 2021 showed that 85% of adult Americans have been vaccinated. Of the 15% of unvaccinated respondents, 2% said they hadn’t been vaccinated due to access and 10% said their doctor had recommended against it, 42% said they don’t trust the vaccine, and 50% were concerned about side effects.