Fauci says US could have 'good control' over COVID-19 by spring of 2022

[left-of-center2012]

Source: KGTV ABC San Diego

Dr. Anthony Fauci, a top White House medical adviser and the director of the National Institutes for Allergies and Infectious Diseases, told CNN Monday night that he believes the U.S. could have "some return to normalcy" from the pandemic by the spring of 2022.

When asked what "control" over the pandemic looked like, Fauci said it was imperative to get more people vaccinated. "If we get the people who are unvaccinated now, that 90 million people, get them vaccinated, I think we can get a degree of overall blanket protection of the community," Fauci said.

Earlier in the day, during his appearance on NPR, Fauci noted that those who remain unvaccinated risk delaying the U.S.'s return to normalcy, noting that the continued spread of the virus could lead to more mutant strains like the delta variant. "You can't have 90 million people who are eligible to be vaccinated who are not vaccinated and expect that you can make a good prediction about where we're going to be," Fauci said. "When you have people unvaccinated to the extent that they are unvaccinated, you have the possibility of the virus continuing to circulate, mutating, forming more variants and getting us back into another situation similar to or worse than delta."

Fauci added that he expects the winter months to be "complicated" as seasonal viruses like influenza and respiratory syncytial virus may rise to prominence.

Read more: https://www.10news.com/news/national/coronavirus/fauci-says-us-could-have-good-control-over-covid-19-by-spring-of-2022

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Fauci's statement contradicted remarks he gave during an appearance on NPR earlier on Monday when he said that he thought the U.S. could have "some good control over the pandemic" by the fall of 2022.

"When I listened to the tape, I meant to say the spring of 2022, so I did misspeak," Fauci told CNN host Anderson Cooper on Monday.

[hibbing]

1. One can hope

Of course it's the antivax idiots that will delay "good control" happening.

May you live in interesting times.

Peace

[Moostache]

2. I hate that he is 100-percent correct on this...

If people had maintained the early adoption vaccination rate - instead of having an insane number of viral labs running around bleating about their "freedumbs" and their "rites" - we would have been under control heading into the fall and instead of dreading a enormous loss of life and more viral evolution with 90M potential targets, we would have had a shot at a pre-pandemic holidays in 2021.

Overlaying the graph of infections, hospitalizations and deaths from 2020 and 2021 is a seriously depressing image...and it did NOT have to be that way.

Arrrrrrrgggggggghhhhhhhh. I feel like we were all "THIS CLOSE" to kicking the damn viral football too.

[J_William_Ryan]

3. "by spring of 2022"

And this is why conservatives continue their unwarranted, wrongheaded opposition to vaccinations and other health and safety measures – to use the virus as a political weapon against Democrats, to perhaps delay good control until November.

[Bleacher Creature]

4. At the very beginning of the pandemic, I listened to a interview with Laurie Garrett.

She said that 36 months was the minimum amount of time it would take to get through this, and even that was aggressive.

The initial approval of the vaccines may have knocked a few months off of that estimate, so if Fauci is right it would ultimately be a good result.

[BumRushDaShow]

5. Unfortunately last December 2020

he said we would have control by this fall (and of course thanks to the anti-vax/anti-mask assholes, that was to be a pipe dream).

Race for a cure
December 30, 2020 5:04 PM Updated 8 months ago
Fauci sees U.S. gaining control over pandemic by next autumn

By Steve Gorman


LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -The leading U.S. infectious disease specialist, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said on Wednesday he foresees America achieving enough collective COVID-19 immunity through vaccinations to regain “some semblance of normality” by autumn 2021, despite early setbacks in the vaccine rollout. Fauci made his remarks during an online discussion of the pandemic with California Governor Gavin Newsom, who announced at the outset that a more infectious coronavirus variant originally found in Britain has been detected in his state, a day after the first known U.S. case was documented in Colorado.

Newsom said the coronavirus variant B.1.1.7 had been confirmed earlier in the day in a Southern California patient. He did not provide further details. But the California Department of Public Health said in statement later that the person, a San Diego County patient, has no known travel history, suggesting the variant is spreading within the community. Fauci said he was “not surprised,” adding that additional cases of the variant would likely surface around the country and that the mutating nature of such viruses is normal.

“It appears that this particular mutation does make the virus better at transmitting from one person to another,” he said. However, individuals infected with earlier forms of SARS-CoV-2 “don’t seem to get re-infected by this,” meaning that any immunity already acquired “is protective against this particular strain,” Fauci added. He also stressed that the so-called UK variant is believed to be no more severe in the illness it causes, and that newly approved COVID-19 vaccines will prove just as effective against it as against earlier known forms of the virus.

The same is believed to be true for a second new variant, also more infectious and first reported in South Africa, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Still, the emergence of a more highly transmissible variant could make a swift rollout of immunizations all the more critical.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa/fauci-sees-u-s-gaining-control-over-pandemic-by-next-autumn-idUSKBN2942D3

Of course since then, the bolded part happened and continues to be true.

[left-of-center2012]

6. As facts change, the goalpost gets moved

You can't hold him to what he said before this new 'Delta' came along.

[BumRushDaShow]

7. Oh I know

That's why I bolded the last part of that excerpt.

The more infectious variant came along and we had these anti-vaxxers.

But my other concern is that since he is such a deeply esteemed official with over 5 decades of experience, whatever he says, the media will cherry-pick his remarks, will then amplify them, repeating them over and over. And then should next spring come along and we're "not there yet", people get frustrated.

Remember the ridiculous term "herd immunity"? I always hated that term and expected such would be impossible with this type of virus. No one has "herd immunity" for a "cold" or "flu" (which this virus is actually related to but is many many times more lethal and damaging). I am thankfully seeing people drop the term now.

I know they want to give "hope". I get that. But as we're finally seeing happen now, there needs to be some sticks mixed in with the carrots.

[left-of-center2012]

8. It reminded me of Meghan McCain on 'The View'

She'd repeat something Fauci said a year ago and scream "He's a liar !" and demand he be fired,
because the data had changed and he changed his advice accordingly.

[BumRushDaShow]

10. Bingo!

It just makes me livid because I know and you know and he knows that this thing changes constantly. That is its nature.

I think sometimes it's because scientists tend to be geeks and nerds (I know because I am one) and it's rare to get one who is able to articulate info like this in a simple fashion without leaving out critical concepts but also without overly sugar-coating it too. And it's mainly because the audience is varied but will only "hear" or "read" what the media plays as clips (or writes) and it's what THEY think you should "hear" or "read" vs the full context.

So when the vaccine came out, they repeated over and over and over that "with 70% vaccinated you'll have herd immunity". Well that's not true.

I know it is difficult to lead in this type of environment, although there are many who are still around who grew up with family (or were themselves) impacted by polio or TB, both of which being scourges of the 1st half of the 20th century.

I suppose because back then, all they had was radio, movies, records, and some live theater/clubs and we have all of that PLUS TV and the internet and video games and whatnot - there are many more distractions that we have become accustomed to and thus get frustrated when something like a pandemic comes along and interrupts what have become non-stop activities.

[RobinA]

9. IF

people get vaccinated, which they won’t.

[AverageOldGuy]

11. I think what Dr. Fauci REALLY said was:

" If the South would just secede again, then, we could get COVID under control. "

[AverageOldGuy]

12. Let's consider another outcome

I'm concerned that we were led to believe that COVID would be defeated and we would never hear from it again. IN FACT, it's doing what every other virus does -- mutate into another form -- which is what the flu virus has been doing for years, that's why there's a different flu vaccine each year and why we need a flu shot each year.

Don't be surprised if COVID becomes like the flu: A permanent fixture. Each year, get your COVID shot along with your flu shot. Thousands will die from COVID annually, just as with flu.

Flu season in the US, which runs from October through May, claims tens of thousands of lives every year. Because the flu is not a reportable disease in most states, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) does not have an exact count of the number of people sickened each year. Instead, it develops estimates based on rates of laboratory-confirmed, flu-associated hospitalizations.

Preliminary CDC estimates for the 2019-2020 influenza season indicate that, as of April 4, 2020, between 24,000 and 62,000 lost their lives to the flu. Add to that the misery of hundreds of thousands of flu-related hospitalizations and millions of medical visits for flu symptoms.

https://www.health.com/condition/flu/how-many-people-die-of-the-flu-every-year

[riversedge]

13. whow. 90million coviditiots to go yet. !!!

[tclambert]

14. He'll change his tune once the Omega variant gets here.

Not only can it survive floating in the air forever, but it eats through masks, and can even spread through the internet. Fortunately, electric shocks can protect you from catching it. So if you just taser yourself continuously, you may be able to save yourself.

[roamer65]

15. My gut feeling is more like early 2024 before we know.

If the fall-winter of 2023-24 is more like the pre-Covid ones, that will be a sign it is abating.