The #1 question for Dr. Anthony Fauci, the chief medical advisor to the President and the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is: When are we going to get back to normal? That was top of mind at the University of Montana’s Annual Mansfield Lecture yesterday, during which Fauci was told: “The primary question on a lot of people's minds is some version of when are we going to be back to normal? For instance, Billy Miller, from Helena, Montana asks about visiting grandkids after getting vaccinated. Is that safe to do, and is it safe to do without masks and social distancing?” Read on to see what Dr. Fauci said—and to ensure your health and the health of others, don't miss these Sure Signs You've Already Had Coronavirus.
Dr. Fauci Said He Can Give a Reasonable Idea About When We’d Return to Normal
When asked about when we can return to normal, Fauci said: ”I think that one can comfortably say that we don't know the precise answer to that, but I can give you a reasonable idea. And it really relates to the fact that the light at the end of the tunnel of a very difficult period that we've been through is the fact that we have vaccines that are highly efficacious and safe. And when we get the overwhelming majority of the country vaccinated, and when I say overwhelming majority, I'm talking maybe 70 to 85% of the population, which would give us in my estimation, even though it's not definitive, because we don't know precisely that would give us a level of what we call herd immunity, which means the protection or a blanket or an umbrella of protection over the community would be such that they would be very, very low level of viral dynamics in the community.” So when will we get there? Keep reading.
Dr. Fauci Says That By the Fall, We Should Be Approaching Normality
“We believe, given the pace of vaccinations that occurring now—and if we could get past this issue of vaccine hesitancy, where a significant number of people may not want to get vaccinated— if we can convince them to get vaccinated and get to that 70 to 85% of the population vaccinated, I believe that by next fall, middle to end the full, then we can begin to approach degree of normality.” But that doesn’t mean it’ll be like you remember, he warned next.
Dr. Fauci Said Life Won’t Be Like it Was Before
“That doesn't mean it's going to be exactly the way it was before,” said Fauci. “It may mean that we still under certain circumstances would have to wear a mask. I mean, we might get back to activities that we don't do now, like being in restaurants, maybe not in full capacity, going to the theater, going to a movie, you know, going back to school, feeling very comfortable and going back to school, I believe we'll, we will be there by the time we get to the mid fall of this coming year.”
Dr. Fauci Warned the Variants May Mess Up This Timeline
“The one wild card in this that I think we need to pay attention to is the emergence of variants, which could elude some of the protection of the vaccine,” said Fauci. “If that's the case, we are already preparing to make versions of the vaccine that are specifically directed at the variants in question. So when answer to the questioners who asked you about that, we will be approaching a degree of normality as we go into the full, but the exact extent of it is going to depend upon a number of factors that we don't have complete control over.”
How to Get Back to Normal Faster
Follow Fauci's fundamentals and help end this surge, no matter where you live—wear a face mask, social distance, avoid large crowds, don't go indoors with people you're not sheltering with (especially in bars), practice good hand hygiene, get vaccinated when it becomes available to you, and to protect your life and the lives of others, don't visit any of these 35 Places You're Most Likely to Catch COVID.